APH Gakuen Rochu: Taming the Polar Bear
by haraguro-tan
Summary: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.
1. Ivan's First Day Begins with a Bang

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

特别感谢 sufater (fluffybuddy) 把这篇文翻译成中文：http:河蟹/河蟹/hi.河蟹baidu.河蟹com/腹黑熊爱傲娇耀/blog/item/e78f848c1af3da6b9e2fb4b4.河蟹html （把河蟹拿掉）

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**Chapter 1: Ivan's First Day Begins with a Bang**

Hetalia Gakuen was gorgeous in Spring. As the most prestigious private international college in Japan, it was by itself, a magnificent establishment to begin with, given spacious green grounds and the varied yet harmoniously designed architecture that reflected the multitude of cultures and nationalities of its students. With the cherry trees in full bloom, the floral pinks added a touch of romanticism to the grandeur of the school grounds.

On the first day of the school year, many students were already milling around the school compound, most of them college freshmen, taking photographs on request of proud parents who would then send them off to the relatives to show off.

But not sophomore and transfer student Ivan Braginski, who stood all alone at the school gate, far away from the human traffic and cheerful chatter, with no one to send photos to. Despite wearing a cheerful smile on his face and a winter coat and scarf in the cool spring weather, he felt cold and morose. He longed to blend into the crowd, but all these people had friends and family members around them, human shields that intimidated him.

Why did everyone ostracize him? Was it his intimidating huge frame? Genetic issues were hardly something he had control over. Was it his strange attire? He would have gladly worn light casuals if not for his cold constitution which forced him to wrap himself up like a dumpling even in summer. Was it his violet eyes? He had received compliments on their outstanding colour, but some people spoke in hushed tones behind his back, calling them the 'eyes of the devil'.

In a sense, Ivan was glad to be away from his homeland in Russia. His older sister cried over the littlest of things, making him appear like a bully, while his unreasonable and terrifying younger sister had him living on a knife edge. His parents were infinitely busy with their lucrative but hectic oil business and were hardly at home. Whenever they did have time for him, the circumstances were never pleasant, considering all the trouble he got himself into just in one typical school week alone. He could not fathom why it was wrong to mess up his exams, to break all the school rules and to pick fights with his school mates, if that would mean receiving attention from his parents. Surely the process didn't matter if the goal was achieved in the end? Sadly, the objective was never the outcome.

After one particularly rough school year in his local college that resulted in his expulsion, Mrs Braginski enrolled him into Hetalia Gakuen on the reasoning that a stricter Asian school regime might instill some discipline in her unruly son. After paying an indecent sum of money to buy over the school authorities, Ivan's dreadful first year grades and conduct were overlooked and he was off to Tokyo to begin his new life.

No parents, no sisters, no neighbors, no friends, no one he knew. All alone.

Ivan had never begun school in Spring. School started in September in Russia, where it was Autumn and leaves left their branches to wither on the ground. If Spring was the time when life began anew, could he really anticipate better days ahead? So many Springs had come and gone in his life, but none as beautiful as this one.

With a lighter heart, Ivan dragged his suitcase inside the warmer school building. Come what may, he could protect himself if he had to, even if it would mean breaking his heart and someone elses' bones. He patted his trusty water pipe hidden under his coat, a legacy of his grandfather's military activity in World War Two. Kolkolkolkol~

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In Hetalia Gakuen, students were segregated according to the different regions they hailed from. Each regional cohort was assigned an academic building where classes and club activities were held, in addition to a dormitory building which contained the students' sleeping and eating quarters. There were seven cohorts in all – Europe, which formed the largest cohort, Asia, The Americas, Middle East, Africa and Australia. Facilities for the student body made up a staggering fourteen buildings, and this was not even including the administration buildings, faculty quarters and common facilities.

For a college as huge and esteemed as Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan had expected a grand and inspirational Back to School Assembly cum Freshman Induction Ceremony. How mistaken he was! All his fellow European sophomores around him were chatting with old friends and classmates; none paid attention to the Dean Roma Antiqua, who was giving an animated speech about his past conquests of hot girls and his twenty-odd "successful marriages". How on earth he could deem them successful when every single one ended in a divorce was a real mystery, thought Ivan.

"Last but not least!" Professor Roma thumped a fist on the podium. The restless audience finally turned to look at him, eagerly anticipating the end of the speech.

"A union of love is the most beautiful thing in life! Even more so when the lady is cute! My dear freshmen and new students, do the school proud and get yourselves some hot girls. My dearest goal for you is to revolutionize public perceptions on us so we will cease being branded as the "gay school". Looking at the hotties in our new batch of students, I trust that this goal will be achieved in no time. Thank you!"

Professor Roma left amidst unenthusiastic applause around the school auditorium as students began voicing their opinions among themselves.

"Where does he expect us to get hot girls from when this is an all-boys school!"

"I'm like totally prettier than the prettiest girl evar!"

"What's wrong with being gay?"

"Silence, everyone! The student handbooks are being handed out now so please read them and re-familiarize yourselves with the school rules!" College senior and head student councilor of the European cohort Arthur Kirkland called out as he walked down Ivan's row to hand out frumpy-looking books.

"Oh Arthur, I don't know who he thinks he's kidding," college senior and assistant head student councilor of the European cohort Francis Bonnefoy sidled up to the grouchy blond. "Almost anyone who's anyone has walked in on him and old Germania doing it in almost any part of this school."

"Shut up, Francis! Don't say such things in front of the juniors," Arthur snapped. "What are you doing here anyway? Don't you have books to give out too?"

"I binned them. Nobody ever reads them anyway," Francis shrugged.

"How the hell did you get elected into the student council?" Arthur scowled as he stuffed a book haphazardly into the arms of a student. The student winced as a sharp edge of the book jabbed his elbow.

"Mon Dieu! Look at that attitude of yours! You'll scare all the poor juniors away! Let nii-san show you how to welcome them back with love!"

Without further ado, Francis planted a wet kiss right on the lips of the stunned second-year. Glancing at his name tag, he declared, "Welcome back to Hetalia Gakuen~ Monsieur Toris~"

"How dare you! That's like my boyfriend you're molesting!" The effeminate blond standing beside Monsieur Toris raged.

"Oh! You're so pretty! Are you really a boy? You look just like a lady!" Francis swooped down on him. "Welcome back to Hetalia Gakuen~ Monsieur Feliks~"

Francis proceeded to relay his affectionate hospitality to the sophomores down the row, causing swooning, cursing, spitting and blanching all at once. Arthur kneaded his temples, greatly troubled by the Frenchman's promiscuous behaviour.

Francis eventually reached the last student in the row of European students.

"Ouah! Violet-coloured eyes! How lovely! Are they real? They aren't contact lenses, are they?" Francis exclaimed as he gazed into the eyes of the Russian before him.

"My eyes are really violet da~ Thank you~" Ivan replied smilingly.

"Magnifique! Let nii-san give you some special love for your beauty~!"

Ivan had a very strange feeling as the Frenchman's tongue slipped inside his mouth. Ivan had always longed for affection, having been starved of it. This was the first time in ages since he was in such close proximity with a person, but he did not like it one bit. Francis' salacious smile and teasing drawl made him uncomfortable. Far from 'special love', this felt more like an intrusion. He did not like it. Defensive instincts kicking in, Ivan bit down hard.

"OW!" Francis pulled away and keeled over on the ground, cradling his bleeding mouth with a trembling hand.

Out of habit, Ivan pulled out his water pipe to punish Francis further.

Arthur gasped, shocked to see a student audaciously raining blows on a student councilor in the middle of a school assembly. He rushed forward to restrain Ivan, but the Russian was too strong and angry. He received a few wallops from the water pipe instead.

"Someone please help!" Arthur shouted at the frightened second years who were already scattering in panic. Nobody wanted to incur the wrath of the human bashing machine. Arthur was on the verge of giving Francis up for dead when a bespectacled blond with a quavering strand of idiot hair charged towards them, one fist in the air.

"Gakuen Hetalia's friendly resident Hero Alfred F. Jones to the rescue!"

Several sharp blows to his silvery blond head later, Ivan's world turned black.

**To be continued...**

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**Free Talk:** This fanfic has many firsts for me. My first APH and Rochu fanfic, and my first BL fanfic! I have since written a few more short Rochu fanfics, but this fanfic got so long, it's still on-going XD It was written for DA's Rochu Squad School-theme contest. I failed to meet the deadline XD but I'm having a lot of fun writing this.

Yao hasn't appeared yet, but he will appear in the next chapter.

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	2. Touched by an Angel

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

特别感谢 sufater (fluffybuddy) 把这篇文翻译成中文：http:河蟹/河蟹/hi.河蟹baidu.河蟹com/腹黑熊爱傲娇耀/blog/item/599c961c2269050d8618bf87.河蟹html （把河蟹拿掉）

* * *

**Chapter 2: Touched by an Angel**

Ivan woke up with a throbbing pain in his skull. It would take awhile for his eyes to adjust to the darkness in his new surroundings, but a strong whiff of disinfectant informed him that he was in some kind of hospital or clinic environment. Would this be his last stop in Tokyo? He could not help wondering what his family would say when he turned up at their door step, barely two days after he left the country.

The room door clicked open and a pale shaft of light fell into the room, followed by two long shadows. As light from the corridor fell upon their faces, Ivan identified one of his visitors as the grouchy student councilor called Arthur. The shorter man beside Arthur with dark hair pulled back in a pony tail and soft features, Ivan did not recognize. He would have mistaken him for a girl if not for his school uniform.

Bright light suddenly flooded the room, forcing Ivan to shut his eyes.

"Aiya! Why did you switch on the light! He might still be asleep aru!"

"About high time he awoke then. Even that bastard Francis was wide awake when I visited him," Arthur said briskly. Ivan saw movement towards his bed through his half-opened eyes and hastily pinched his eyes close. At this moment, he was not in the mood for reprimands.

"Unbelievable, Yao, he really is still asleep!"

"Alfred did hit him pretty hard aru. How's Francis?"

"He's surviving, but he received some really nasty bruises so I suppose he won't be able to get naked for a while. Good for us. However, he'll have to be put on a feeding tube for two weeks until his tongue heals from that vicious bite. The poor man will have a fit in his stomach. You know how much he enjoys fine dining," Arthur said gravely.

"He deserved it," Yao huffed. "No good ever comes out from such indecency. This should teach him a lesson to kiss anyone who stands still long enough aru."

Ivan's heart skipped a beat. Did he hear right? For once, someone was actually taking his side instead of going straight to him with furious accusations.

"Francis was just greeting him according to his custom. The new student completely overreacted. He hit me too, mind you. Check out these bruises on my arm," Arthur said grumpily.

"That does look bad aru," Yao said sympathetically. "Francis must have scared the poor boy badly."

"Are you still taking his side?" Arthur's thick eyebrows knitted together. "Ivan Braginski's a nutcase. Fancy landing someone in hospital on his very first day! I can wager that he was expelled from his previous college, and old Roma, as usual, takes in about anyone with cold hard cash to buy him over. Heavens knows what sort of trouble he'll create for me in future!"

"Don't be so paranoid," Yao scoffed. "I'm sure the boy's not dangerous. I'd probably have reacted in the same way aru."

"On the contrary, I think you'd stamp your feet and swing your wok around but you wouldn't commit homicide," Arthur smirked. He knew that Yao was too nice and tolerant for his own good to actually mean any of his threats and harsh words.

Yao retorted, "At least I don't make something out of nothing. Homicide is an exaggerated claim."

"Oh yes? Then why did you leave this room when you were supposed to remain in here until he woke up? Isn't it because you're afraid to be alone with him?" Arthur sneered.

"Aiya what nonsense! I just went to get him some food from the school cafeteria. I figured he'd be hungry since it's been a long day aru," Yao lifted a large styrofoam bowl out of his carrier.

"That's incredibly nice of you," Arthur said, half-impressed, half-exasperated. "Well, I'll leave you to mollycoddle him. I have to help the freshmen settle in. I'm really short-handed, what with Francis out of action and the large intake of Europeans this year." Arthur stretched his arms and yawned widely.

"Sure, leave him to me aru," Yao replied.

"Thanks, " Arthur replied as he blushed slightly. "Although he's supposed to be under my charge..."

"Aiya, it's nothing," Yao waved him off.

"Would you like Minty to stay with you?"

"Er… who aru?"

"My companion… you know, the mint bunny with the fairy wings?" He gestured at thin air.

Yao did not know. Neither could he see. But all the same, he replied, "Nah… it's all right, I don't mind staying here alone aru."

"Scream loudly if he attacks you," Arthur called as he stepped out of the room.

"Aiya! I can protect myself aru!"

Ivan twitched his nose as a familiar smell of Borscht, his favourite food in the world, wafted into his nostrils. He turned to the source of the smell, and saw Yao sitting next to the bed counter beside him, fanning at the steam that was issuing from a styrofoam bowl with its cap off.

When Ivan first laid eyes on Yao, he thought him pretty. Now, upon seeing Yao's side profile up-close, he concluded that he was not just pretty. Yao was beautiful. Silky black tresses framed the soft round face, starkly contrasting against pale skin. Those gentle amber eyes glowed with warmth that he never knew.

"Aiya!" Yao nearly spilled the Borscht when he turned and saw Ivan staring at him with glazed eyes. "You're awake!"

Ivan felt his face grow warm at being caught in the act of staring. What an alien sensation this was! Ivan was usually a thick-skinned and daring person. Embarrassment was a strange new feeling to him.

"How's your head aru?" Yao set aside the Borscht and helped Ivan to sit up in his bed.

"It hurts a little, but the pain is going away," Ivan replied truthfully. "Where am I?"

"You're in the school clinic aru. We took you to the hospital to do a CAT scan just now. Don't worry, the doctor said that you're fit as a fiddle! You can return to your dormitory first thing tomorrow morning," Yao beamed. Ivan nodded smilingly in appreciation of the information.

"Listen," Yao said seriously. "I apologize on behalf of the student council for this morning's incident. As assistant head councilor of the European cohort, Francis is usually quite sensible, but he's also fond of doing stupid things like that because he thinks they're romantic aru. He's French you see." A slight look of irritation crossed Yao's benign face.

"It's ok~ I understand. You don't have to apologize for him~" Ivan said sweetly. After all, if anyone was to pay further for this misdeed, it would only be the Frenchman himself. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao smiled gratefully at him, causing butterflies to erupt in his stomach.

"Thank you aru. Anyway, my name is Wang Yao and I'm the head student councilor of the Asian cohort. I graduated from this school last year and I'm doing my Masters now. Nice to meet you aru," he held out his hand for Ivan to shake. Ivan shook it, and as he did, felt a jolt of electricity course through his hand, quickening his pulse momentarily. Yao's hand felt so soft and warm, he felt he could hold it forever.

But Yao had no intentions of letting him do so.

"Your hands are so cold aru! No wonder you're wearing so much clothing even in Spring!" Yao exclaimed as he withdrew his hand immediately after Ivan had took it. "Is it really very cold in Russia?"

"The winters in Russia are very cold da," Ivan nodded. "I grew up in Yakutsk. The summers are warm but short, and the winters are long and freezing cold."

"I think winters in Russia are beautiful aru," Yao replied, thinking of the postcards he had seen at the book store.

"Yes, they make for dramatic photographs," Ivan smiled somewhat grudgingly. "Where are you from? Your hands are so warm da~"

"I'm from China. It's not as warm as the tropical countries, and some of our cities experience rather heavy snow in winters, but on the whole, we don't really get extreme temperatures, so I guess my weather is reasonably warm compared to yours aru."

A low rumble rang out as Ivan's stomach protested against neglect.

"Oh! You must be hungry aru!" Yao handed the steaming bowl of Borscht to Ivan. "I wasn't sure what you would like, but I thought you might want something familiar aru."

"Thank you, I love Borscht da~!" Ivan gratefully accepted the bowl. As Yao's hand grazed his own, he felt another bout of electric current enter his fingers. He could not explain the strange sensation he was feeling, but he knew it was certainly not attributed to the dry air in the room, and that it felt pleasant.

"Well I'll leave you to eat in peace then aru," Yao made a motion to get up from his chair.

"Wait!" Ivan grabbed Yao's wrist impulsively. It felt so delicate in his own large hands.

"Yes aru?"

Ivan sensed the small wrist twitch uncomfortably in his grip. A twinge of panic crossed his heart. Was Yao merely not comfortable with physical contact, or did he despise his touch? If it was the latter… well, he would soon find out.

"My hands feel weak and numb," Ivan balanced the bowl of Borscht gingerly on his lap and made a great show of rubbing his hands.

"From the cold? Aiya you have a really cold constitution aru! And I'm sure it can't all be your weather's fault! Have you heard the saying 'Food is medicine'? Personally, as someone who prioritizes food above everything else, for a good reason of course, I say you're lacking something in your diet aru. I know of a good Chinese herbal brew that will help to improve your constitution if you take it regularly. You just boil Dang Gui with red ginseng and…"

Ivan's stomach emitted another growl, forcing Yao to abandon his recital.

"Aiya I'm so sorry! I get carried away each time I talk about food," Yao blushed. "Can't you even hold your spoon?"

Ivan shrugged helplessly as the plastic spoon that came with the bowl of Borscht trembled violently in his hand.

"I suppose we shouldn't have removed your gloves and coat. What can I do to help you?" Yao fretted.

"Well… you could… you could feed me da~?" Ivan said hopefully.

"Feed you?" Yao scratched his head, wondering if he had heard right. As a doting older brother to two siblings, Yao liked babying his younger brother and sister, but they always chided him for treating them like children when he did so. He couldn't imagine a big guy like Ivan, and a total stranger at that, allowing him to treat him like a child.

"It's all right if you don't want to…" Privately thinking that it was not all right at all, Ivan felt a pang in his heart as purple haze obscured his vision.

A merry chuckle escaped the Chinese boy's lips, dispelling the purple haze.

"Aiya, I don't mind at all! I would have suggested it myself, but I was afraid I'd offend you aru. My younger sister complains and tries to hit me whenever I coax her to eat when she's ill," Yao shook his head. He took the bowl of Borscht from Ivan's lap.

"I won't complain or hit you. I'll be still and quiet, trust me da~!" Ivan said eagerly.

"All right then," Yao scooped up a spoonful of Borscht, blew at it gently and brought it to Ivan's mouth. Ivan opened his mouth obediently and swallowed the spoonful.

"Is it good aru?"

"Da~! It's the warmest and most delicious Borscht I've ever tasted!" Ivan nodded earnestly.

"Really? That's great," Yao said, surprised and glad. "I was worried that it wouldn't be authentic enough for you."

"You have a scary younger sister too da?" Ivan asked as Yao scooped up another spoonful of Borscht.

"Oh she's not scary, she's just rather headstrong and willful aru. She's actually quite lovely when she doesn't act like a spitfire," Yao said laughingly. "Do you have a scary younger sister?"

"… I'd rather not talk about that da," Ivan said in a trembling voice, putting an abrupt end to the topic of scary younger sisters.

True to his words, Ivan was very compliant, keeping very still and quiet as Yao continued to feed him. In truth, the silence was beginning to make Yao feel awkward, especially since all Ivan did was stare sappily at him. Bothered by the dead air and for lack of a better conversation topic - he supposed he could tell Ivan all about his homeland China, but he didn't want to appear self-centered - Yao proceeded to tell Ivan all about the school rules at Hetalia Gakuen. It was rather boring, but Ivan did not mind. He listened hungrily to Yao's reassuring voice, and only vaguely registered the content. Most of it went in one ear and out through another.

"… however, violence is frowned upon in our school and objects that can cause physical harm are prohibited, so Arthur's keeping your water pipe until …"

Ivan choked on the last spoonful of Borscht.

"My water pipe's gone?" he demanded. He had assumed that it was still safely stowed away in his coat which someone, undoubtedly Yao, had folded and placed neatly at the foot of his bed.

"Calm down aru!" Yao cried, alarmed to see darkness marring Ivan's good-natured face. "It's in good hands! Arthur will give it back to you after your detention!"

"Detention? I have to go for detention?" Ivan's violet eyes filled with indignant chagrin. He had absolutely no idea why he had to be penalized. Didn't Yao agree that he was right to punish Francis?

"Yes, because beating up someone is still wrong, even if the other party was at fault," Yao explained. "That's why Arthur's giving you detention aru. Of course, Francis will also go for detention when he's fit enough to do so aru," Yao added hastily.

"Arthur's giving me detention?"

"Yes, but don't worry, we're all busy with orientation so I don't think Arthur will be hard on you aru," Yao hastily said.

"Why am I getting detention from this Arthur and not you? You're a student councilor da?" Ivan asked.

Yao stared back at him, momentarily confused. Then he laughed.

"Why would you want to take detention from me? Because I look friendlier than Arthur? I'll have you know that my juniors think I give the worst detentions out of all the student council heads aru. I assign menial tasks like cleaning the toilets and weeding the peony garden which everyone hates. That's why students in the Asian cohort are the most well-behaved cohort. Arthur, on the other hand, makes people write lines aru," He snorted at the Englishman's feeble attempt at instilling discipline.

"I don't mind. I'll do anything you ask me to," Ivan said, surprising himself and Yao with his own enthusiasm. He usually did everything he could to escape detention or make the experience as unpleasant as possible for his supervisor.

"I'm not your head councilor, so I can't give you detention aru. Arthur's your head councilor and he will be the one you go to whenever you have problems in school. That includes conflicts and disciplinary issues as well," Yao explained.

"So I won't get to see much of you in future?" Ivan asked, crestfallen.

Yao was stunned by the longing he saw in the violet eyes. He was well aware that for some odd reason, many of his juniors nursed a crush on him, but he had not expected it from someone whom he had only just met. He decided to attribute this strange phenomenon to homesickness.

Smilingly, he said, "Of course you will see me. We are in the same school, aren't we? Now go to sleep, or you won't have energy for school tomorrow aru!" Yao took the empty styrofoam bowl from Ivan and put it back into its carrier. Ivan slid down obediently into his bed as Yao covered him with a blanket.

"Er…" Ivan called out when Yao turned to leave.

"Yes aru?"

Ivan was silent for a few seconds. Eventually, he said, "Thanks for… everything…"

"No problem, good night!" Yao put out the lights and headed out of the door.

As the room was plunged into darkness, Ivan regretted being too shy to ask Yao for a goodnight kiss.

**To be continued...**

* * *

**Free Talk:**

Ivan: No goodnight kiss! What a bummer da~! *pouts*

Yao: It wouldn't be natural for us to start smooching this early unless you want to end up in hospital like Francis aru.

Ivan: That's true~ Good things are worth the wait da?

Yao: Well, this is an old-fashioned feeding scene from a hospital which you typically find in icky romantic Asian dramas aru. Still, I hope it satisfies and that I was as nice and gentle as I should be according to the story. Really, all I wanted to do the whole time was to empty the bowl of Borscht over Ivan's stupid sappy face aru.

Ivan: Just because I didn't ask you to kiss me? ( ; J ; ) But that was the author's fault. But I can ask you now to make up for it~! Yao~ Can I have a goodnight kiss?

Yao: =_= No aru.

Ivan: Aww~ But you're my angel, and angels grant wishes, so you should grant mine da?

Yao: I believe that's a fairy you're thinking of aru.

Ivan: Aww... What's the difference? ( ; J ; )

Yao: Go ask Arthur.

Ivan: Who cares? If I want you to kiss me, I don't actually have to ask, because you're mine anyway *yandere mode*

Yao: Again? You lecherous bear, stop this nonsense now! Noooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	3. Dangerous Games

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

特别感谢 sufater (fluffybuddy) 把这篇文翻译成中文：http:河蟹/河蟹/hi.河蟹baidu.河蟹com/腹黑熊爱傲娇耀/blog/item/6e7a3ed2e2f9d1d150da4b25.河蟹html （把河蟹拿掉）

* * *

**Chapter 3: Dangerous Games**

Ivan woke up with a start.

The clarity of Yao's face and voice had confused him into thinking that he was back in the clinic in his dreams. But the absence of the smell of disinfectant and the silhouette of his vase of sunflowers by the window brought him back to reality, reminding him that he was in his dormitory room. In the bottom deck of the double decker bed that he shared with his room mate, sophomore Toris Lorinaitis tossed and turned fitfully, bothered by the lack of wind from their non-working electrical fan. A black-out had occurred in the school grounds and all the electrical appliances were down. It was barely 9pm, but many students had forced themselves to go to bed since the school grounds were so dark that they could hardly find their way around.

Ivan lay awake in bed, musing about his dream. A dream about his chance encounter with the angelic student councilor called Wang Yao. Three months had passed since he entered Hetalia Gakuen, and Yao's beautiful visage and kind demeanor continued to haunt his dreams. Yet contrary to what Yao had promised, he had not met him again.

After spending the first week of school trying to track down Yao in the massive school compound, finally resorting to threats and violence to worm out Yao's whereabouts from a student from the Asian cohort, Ivan learnt that shortly after orientation week, Yao had left the country for a three-month long student exchange programme overseas.

Since Yao left, nobody was nice to Ivan. News about his attack on Francis spread like wildfire, and the students avoided him like plague. In retaliation and indignation, Ivan continued to make waves and enemies around the school with his bullying ways, which went neglected by the Dean Roma, who could not bother himself with rule breakers as long as they paid their school fees on time. But in spite of his strong outward appearance, Ivan was very sad, and his loneliness made his longing for Yao grow more intense over the weeks.

"Three months... today's the 90th day. That's three months already da?" Ivan turned towards the wall by his bed which was covered with lines he had drawn with a marker to mark the number of days that had passed since Yao left. If not for this stupid blackout, Ivan would have gone off to stake out the Asian dormitory. But he knew that even if he did manage to make his way there, he might miss Yao in the darkness.

Ivan tossed and turned fretfully. In the bed below his, Toris let out a groan at the additional disturbance that hindered him from sleep.

"Ne~ Toris, can't sleep?" Ivan leaned over his bed and asked.

Toris gulped and choked on his saliva. After a bout of coughing, Toris replied nervously, "Yes, it's a hot night. You can't sleep too?"

"I don't think it's hot, but I can't sleep too~ Let's do something fun da? Kolkolkolkol~"

* * *

_Smack!  
_  
"Ow!" Toris cried out as Eduard von Bock's palm connected hard with his cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Toris! Just one more to go! Hang in there!" tears welled up in Eduard's eyes, both from the pain of having to hit his good friend and the impact on his already-swelling palm.

"Two more, Eduard. That one wasn't hard enough," Ivan beamed pleasantly from his seat across his two fellow college sophomores, tapping his water pipe menacingly against his palm. A tiny flame from a melting candle, the sole light source in the room, threw a ghostly light over the pale smiling face. Those beautiful violet eyes were intensely bright, but void of warmth.

College freshman Raivis Galante, the last member of the foursome, huddled on the carpeted floor, staring in fear and disbelief at the silvery-haired tyrant. He shuddered, wishing, not for the last time, that the power would come back so they would not have to be stuck in the Russian's dormitory room, playing 'Truth or Dare' in the dark. Though he suspected that Ivan was having so much fun that he probably would not budge even if the lights came back on.

Two loud, resounding slaps, followed by a yelp of pain, then quiet whimpering from the Lithuanian as he held his hands against his reddening and swelling cheeks and lips.

"There! That's the fifty slaps done. Satisfied now?" said Eduard unhappily while at the same time, trying hard not to sound too unhappy.

"Da! Toris, your turn to dare or ask Eduard something now~"

Toris mumbled something that nobody understood.

"Ah I don't think he can talk now, given the state of his mouth," Eduard winced with sympathy. The sides of Toris' lips had begun to bruise a nasty purple.

"You're no fun at all, Toris," Ivan clicked his tongue. "Very well, I'll ask you then, Eduard. Truth or dare?"

Eduard gulped. After Ivan's cruel dare to have Toris accept fifty slaps from Eduard, the only sane choice was 'Truth'. Though in truth, the word 'sane' never did go hand-in-hand with Ivan.

"Do you like me, Eduard?" Ivan smiled as sunnily as the yellow sunflowers by his window. Yet, all it incited was a shiver down the Estonian's spinal cord.

"Um... ah..." Eduard was in a complete dilemma. If he said 'Yes', he would be lying through his teeth and if called out, there would be hell to pay for. Just like poor Raivis, who was made to stand on his head for half an hour after he lied that he was wearing white underpants when he was in fact, not wearing any at all, as discovered by the impertinent Russian who promptly pulled down his pants to check.

Then again, Ivan seemed ignorant to his own viciousness and always wondered aloud why he was being resented for committing an act hurtful to others. Perhaps saying 'yes' was the better bet. After all, if he said 'no', he was sure he could expect worst punishments than seeing the world in its inverted form.

"Y...yes, I do...!" Eduard stammered, huge beads of perspiration trickling down his face.

"Aww... Are you sure you're not saying that just to avoid my water pipe?" Ivan tightened his grip on his metallic weapon while continuing to smile angelically.

"Y… yes, I really, really do! What's not to like about you? You're tall and strong (fat), have beautiful hair and eyes (but a grotesque heart), and… lots of money (that you extort from us) and umm… so much authority (ability to create fear) that even the teachers in this school respect (fear) you!"

"Da! Your turn to ask Raivis now~"

Eduard withheld tears of joy, scarcely believing that he had just escaped from the gates of Hell.

Subsequently, Raivis received a dare from Eduard to run up and down the corridor for twenty minutes shouting swear words through a loud speaker, which he did without further ado before Ivan could stop him and suggest something more sadistic. He suffered bumps from running into the walls in the dark, and had swear words shouted back at him in retaliation, but he was otherwise safe and sound.

"My turn now, Ivan," Raivis said. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare~ Make it a fun one da!"

Raivis thought long and hard. On the hushed pleas of Toris, he had only given Ivan stupid harmless dares like drawing sunflowers and smacking Eduard's bum with his water pipe. After all, if the Russian was antagonized, Toris, his unfortunate room mate, would suffer most. Without Toris' interference this time, the blunt Latvian decided that it was time to teach Ivan a lesson. He would give him a fun one all right.

"I dare you to force a kiss on the lips of the first person you meet in the corridor!" Raivis declared.

Eduard stared at Raivis, wondering if the boy had lost his mind from having too much blood rush into his head. Even Toris, who had been quietly nursing his bruises in his miserable corner, let out a gasp.

"LATVIA!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Kiss the first person I meet in the corridor on the lips? " Ivan asked doubtfully.

Raivis nodded. If the victim struck back at Ivan, Ivan would be taught a lesson. Most people didn't hit back at Ivan, but they might in the dark if they couldn't see his face. If the Russian got his way, at least it would still have been a fun dare for him. Raivis secretly hoped that person would be Ludwig, a tall, burly and no-nonsense third year who was rather on par with Ivan in terms of height and build.

"Are you actually worried?" Raivis widened his eyes as a rare sign of uncertainty flitted across the Russian's violets. Toris and Eduard groaned inwardly.

"Me, worried? Nothing in this world unsettles me. I accept your dare!" Ivan got to his feet and headed towards the door.

"What the heck was that for?" Eduard hissed.

"I have such a bad feeling about this…" Toris cradled his stomach as he felt a dull ache throbbing from all the torment he had suffered for the night. 

* * *

**Free Talk:**

Ivan: Ouch~! Poor Toris! Fifty slaps! That's awful! H-chan must have a sadistic streak da? Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Err... I seem to remember you kol'ing in pure ecstasy when you saw the script and even volunteered to do the slapping aru =_=

Ivan: Just getting into character da~!

Yao: The punishment scene was problematic. Originally, it was supposed to be 100 strokes of the whip by Eduard, but Toris fainted on the first stroke. So it was changed to 100 slaps. Toris wanted out after 10 slaps, so after much bargaining with the author, and threatening by Ivan, Toris finally agreed to do the scene with 50 slaps. On behalf of the author, I apologize sincerely to all fans of Toris for the abuse he had to go through. We promise to nominate him for Best Supporting Role if there's such an award.

Ivan: Changing gears, there's going to be a kissing scene in the next chapter da? Guess who I'm going to kiss? Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Ludwig?

Ivan: Your fruitless efforts to escape reality are so cute! Since it's pretty obvious that the one I'm going to kiss is you, don't you think we should rehearse the kissing scene? We want it perfect for our dear audience da? Kolkolkolkol~!

Yao: Your countless efforts to molest me are ridiculous aru!

Ivan: At least my efforts are not fruitless da~ Kolkolkolkol~!

Yao: Noooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	4. The Nth Meeting Gone Wrong

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

特别感谢 sufater (fluffybuddy) 把这篇文翻译成中文：http:河蟹/河蟹/hi.河蟹baidu.河蟹com/腹黑熊爱傲娇耀/blog/item/f7a5f1001dead9d87b8947de.河蟹html （把河蟹拿掉）

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Nth Meeting Gone Wrong**

The Students' Council Room was bathed in complete darkness, safe for the pale moonlight streaming in through the open windows and several torch lights set on their bases to illuminate the four hardworking student councilors seated around a conference table in deep discussion despite the power failure.

Alfred F. Jones was by no means the leader of the Student Council. In Hetalia Gakuen, to promote equality and fairness, there was no single head for the Student Council and each cohort was represented by one head student councilor, except the European cohort which had an additional assistant head due to its sheer size. Alfred was the head student councilor of students from the two Americas, and as a college third-year, was younger than everyone in the room, but he had as usual, forcefully taken charge of the meeting and was now gesturing wildly at a board full of his writing, oblivious to the fact that nobody could see a word, or hear a word he was saying through mouthfuls of hamburger.

"I don't know what you're saying at all, you baka!" Arthur complained as he swept off hamburger crumbs from the front of his shirt in disgust.

"It's rude to eat and talk at the same time aru!" Yao admonished as he picked a piece of half-chewed lettuce out of his silky black hair. Eew.

"Oh what am I doing in this stupid room on a lovely weekend night when I should be outside showering kisses on this miserable world," Francis wailed.

"The world would be better off without your kisses, perverted bastard!" Arthur retorted.

"Tsk tsk, Arthur, as uncouth as ever," Francis tittered as he leaned over towards the English man and started caressing his hair out of habit.

"How dare you flirt with my Arthur in the middle of my meeting!" Alfred marched over and wrenched those wretched fingers away, nearly breaking them.

Far from being grateful, Arthur shouted, "Who's your Arthur, you bastard!"

Consequently, the three angry men began actively venting their frustrations on each other with punches and kicks.

"Aiya. Those quarrelsome Westerners," Yao shook his head. He had had an exhausting day, having been on the plane for the whole afternoon. He was longing for a catch-up with his brother and cousins, his Gitty-chan plushie and his dormitory bed with its adorable Hello Kitty bedsheets. But no sooner had he brought his suit case to his dormitory room, the over-zealous Alfred had called him up, in the middle of a power failure no less, to heckle him about Graduation Night which was eons away. As usual, the meeting had turned into an unsightly brawl, and nothing was going to get done. Sighing, Yao gingerly took out his bun, which he had nicked from the plane and kept inside his Hello Kitty bento box, and settled back in his armchair to watch the drama while munching on his supper.

_Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light  
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?  
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,  
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?_

It took awhile for Yao to register that the American national anthem was issuing from the telephone in the middle of the noisy conference table. Being the only one available to answer the phone, Yao did so, regretting it almost immediately.

"Student council room. How can I -"

"WAAAAAAAH!"

Yao pulled the handset as far away from his ear as the phone cord would allow, a free hand shooting to his ear instinctively. Even then, the all-too familiar voice of the school's notorious crybaby Feliciano Vargas could be heard loud and clear. Although Yao had only known this freshman for a week before he left for his student exchange programme, Feliciano had left a deep and unpleasant impression on him for phoning the Student Council Room almost every other hour for a variety of trivials ranging from nightmares to missing underwear.

"IT'S SO DARK! I'M SO SCARED! SOMEONE SAVE ME! DOITSUUUUUU!"

"Calm down! It's just a power failure aru! The lights will come back soon!" Yao shouted over the racket.

"NONONONO!" The Italian squealed. "Someone outside wants to kill me and Doitsu is not in!"

"Aiya this is a school. Who would want to kill you? You're just having a nightmare, go back to sleep aru," the Chinese replied tiredly.

"But he's just right outside my door!"

Yao drew the earpiece cautiously back to his ear. Sure enough, in the background, amidst Feliciano's sniffling, he could hear a crackly voice shouting malicious swear words. Feliciano's constant paranoia was ludicrous, but students making trouble in the corridor was a serious matter.

Yao glanced over at Arthur and Francis, who were now trying to sit on Alfred. Matters of the European student cohort did not concern Yao, who was only delegated to head the Asian cohort, but now it seemed that he was the only one available to attend to the problem.

"All right I'll come over now," Yao sighed.

"Ve~! Can you bring some pasta too? I'm hung-"

Yao slammed down the phone. He was usually kind and brotherly to his juniors, whichever cohort they hailed from, and Feliciano's innocence was rather endearing. But the pasta-loving fool needed to get it into his head that they were student councilors, not substitute nannies. Grabbing his coat and a torch, Yao abandoned his supper and headed out into the cold night towards the European dormitory. 

* * *

**Free Talk:**

Ivan: Where's that kissing scene that H-chan promised? *yandere mode*

Yao: Calm down Ivan. She didn't exactly say that the kiss scene would be in this chapter aru.

Ivan: Two continuous non-Rochu chapters in a Rochu fic. What kind of Rochu fic is this da?

Yao: A slow and draggy one. It must be all that bad influence from Yong Soo's soap operas. But the good news, or rather, bad news, in my case, is that the kissing scene is in the next chapter.

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ I can't wait~

Yao: Changing topics, back to this chapter. This was a fairly short chapter inspired by the regular useless meetings with the allies. Doitsu, as you probably already realized, is the Japanese pronounciation of Deutsch or Germany. Because Feliciano sounds so moe when he calls Ludwig 'Doitsu~', the author decided to stick to it. I personally like it too aru~

Ivan: Yao likes moe things da? What about I call you something moe too? How about Chuu-chan?

Yao: ... Just Yao will do. That will be all. See you in the next chapter aru!

Ivan: Let's rehearse for the kissing scene da?

Yao: Not again! Nooooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	5. The Reunion

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

特别感谢 sufater (fluffybuddy) 把这篇文翻译成中文：http:河蟹/河蟹/hi.河蟹baidu.河蟹com/腹黑熊爱傲娇耀/blog/item/ad9f578c4bd6f907c9fc7a14.河蟹html （把河蟹拿掉）

* * *

**Warning: Explicit description of M/M Non-consensual kissing**

**Chapter 5: The Reunion**

Ivan had never initiated a kiss in his entire life. There were of course, those obligatory greeting kisses on cheeks and hands. His older sister Yekaterina and his parents used to kiss him on the forehead when he was very much younger. But he had never received a genuine kiss, nor desired to kiss anyone on the lips.

His experiences with kissing had been traumatic. Natalia, his menacing younger sister, tried to kiss him. More than once. So had that idiotic Francis Bonnefoy during the freshman induction ceremony. Natalia landed him in hospital whenever he refused to cooperate. To top it off, he had landed Francis in hospital, which gave him an even worst feeling since it had been his wish to get along with everyone in his new school. Since then, he had not entertained the idea of smooching anyone.

Well, except Yao. And suddenly, deep in his mind, a small voice told him that he would like to keep his first genuine kiss for Yao. He flushed at that thought. But he hated losing and did not want to fail his dare. He figured he would just make the kiss a very quick one.

"Ack!" a sudden burst of bright light in the pitch black corridor fell upon Ivan's eyes, causing them to screw up in pain from momentary blindness.

"Aiya! I'm so sorry aru! I didn't see you!"

The intensity of the beam diminished as the offending light source was lowered. He felt a small hand on his arm, steadying him from an otherwise imminent fall.

"Are you ok? Can you see me?" Ivan felt something moving in front of his face, but all he could make out were vague outlines and some white flashes from the sudden intrusion of light. The speaker sounded exceedingly familiar and comforting.

"Oh, of course you can't, silly me."

The light source was brought up again, this time directing the strong beam towards the ceiling and illuminating the face of its carrier by its side.

"There, better now?"

When Ivan opened his eyes again, he found himself staring down into soft, liquid-amber eyes rimmed with long, dark lashes. Not sly like Francis', not terrible like Natalia's, not filled with dread like Toris', Eduards' and everyone else he had laid eyes on. The eyes of an angel, framed by a porcelain white oval canvas. The angelic face that occupied his dreams night after night.

Yao.

The angel's small pink lips formed a lovely smile that made his heart race.

"Where are you going? Shall I take you there? It's difficult to wander around in the dark aru."

Stunned that the man of his dreams had appeared in front of him out of the blue, Ivan developed a passing amnesia.

Where _was_ he going?

Then he remembered. Ah.

For the first time in his life, Yao realized how small he was when the large European enveloped his petite frame effortlessly.

"W... what are you doing aru!" Yao cried, flabbergasted as he felt his feet being lifted off the ground. He tried to flail his arms, but they were pinned to his side by his aggressor's muscular arms. His torch clattered to the ground and broke, plunging the dark corridor into deeper darkness.

"Aiyeeeeeee!" Yao let out a shriek as something moist and velvety snaked its way up his neck. This was a sick joke. A sick, sick joke that these juvenile European juniors had come up with. He needed to get out of here pronto. He thrashed his legs to get back to the ground, but his toes brushed helplessly against the hard cement floor.

And then, it was slithering up his chin, and over his mouth...

"Mmmph!" Yao protested as a pair of lips muzzled his own. He tried to open his mouth to shout, but all he accomplished was giving the other man's tongue greater access into his mouth. He tried to twist his face away, but the man had placed a hand against the back of his head, forcing him forward. Their tongues collided as Yao tried to block out the intruding muscle. But if anything, he only seemed to make the other man more excited.

A low growl escaped Ivan's throat as he kissed back harder, mistaking his victim's heaving chest as a sign of ecstasy like that of his own. Each time Yao moved his head, Ivan drove deeper inside. He was almost shocked to discover that kissing felt so natural and stimulating. He supposed that was the difference between love and disgust.

"Stop it stop it stop it stop it!" Yao shouted in his mind as tears of anguish and shame leaked from his wide, desperate eyes. Feelings of humiliation soon gave way to panic as Yao discovered that he was having difficulty breathing. The rogue was hugging him so tightly that his chest felt constricted against the other man's broad, hard chest. His only source of air was entering reluctantly through his nostrils.

As his body and mind grew weak, Yao saw significant moments of his life flash across his eyes. The first time he got his pet panda... the first time his cousin Honda Kiku gave him a Hello Kitty doll which he fell head over heels in love with... the first time he nearly committed murder when his other cousin Im Yong Soo drew a mouth on the adorable blank face and he had to rename the doll Gitty-chan... The first time he stepped into Hetalia Gakuen... The first time he received his student council badge... The first time he saw Ah Gong cry when he chose to take up anime drawing over martial arts...

_Why why why why why_? Now he was going to die, smothered by a perverted homosexual when he had a whole bright future ahead... Ah Gong would not forgive him...

Hade's judgment hall vanished, replaced by a brilliantly lit corridor. The brightness invaded his eyes so suddenly that Yao failed to realize immediately that the iron grip on his mouth had been released. The spell broke when Ludwig's voice rang out, "Oi this is a public place! What the hell are you two doing?"

"Help me! Save me!" Yao cried, hating himself for sounding like the crybaby he had slammed the phone down on just minutes ago.

A scramble of hands rushed forward, and the two broke apart, Ivan being held back by the combined efforts of Toris, Eduard and Ludwig, while Feliciano supported Yao who was swaying unsteadily on his feet. Several other students had emerged from their rooms to see what the to-do was all about.

Respectful silence hung heavily in the air, until Feliciano wordlessly held up a napkin to Yao. Although it was already stained with pasta sauce, Yao hastily grabbed it to wipe off his tears and saliva.

"I... I... I.. I.. Y...y...y...you...the heck is this aru?" a red-faced Yao struggled to recover his speech abilities as he spluttered at an equally red-faced Ivan.

Taking the cue from Ivan's silence and Yao's confused and furious expression, Toris and Eduard started bobbing their heads up and down like roly-polys.

"It's really my fault... we were playing this game called truth or dare and then one of us dared him to kiss someone in the corridor... it was just a game... he never meant any harm... please don't punish him…"

Ludwig tut-tutted while Feliciano asked, "Ve~ what's truth or dare? Is it fun?"

Yao pinched his eyes closed and took a deep breath. "A game huh? You guys..." he gritted his teeth, "really need to grow up."

Toris and Eduard drooped their heads in shame. If it was even possible, the crimson on Ivan's face had gone one more shade deeper.

"Detention!" Yao barked suddenly, causing Feliciano to jump. "Three of you! Student council room tomorrow! 3 pm!"

Throwing a death glare at the abashed trio, Yao stalked off with a swish of his long hair.

"Um… is it safe to come out now?" a small blonde head poked out from Ivan's room.

"LATVIA!"

**To be continued...**

* * *

**Free Talk:**

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ So that was the long-awaited kissing scene. It was H-chan's first time writing a kissing scene. Everything else she's ever wrote never went beyond a G-rating, so forgive her if it doesn't satisfy. With more writing practice and as our kisses get more consensual, I assure you that it will improve. Yao, you agree da?

Yao: ... /

Ivan: Aww Yao, are you blushing? If we do this a few more times, you'll become less embarrassed da? Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Nooooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~**  
Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, or feel that I can improve in some ways, please leave a comment to let me know! Thank you~


	6. He Likes Me, He Really Likes Me

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

特别感谢 sufater (fluffybuddy) 把这篇文翻译成中文：http:河蟹/河蟹/hi.河蟹baidu.河蟹com/腹黑熊爱傲娇耀/blog/item/32e8f511e6bbdf0d962b432e.河蟹html （把河蟹拿掉）

* * *

**Chapter 6: He Likes Me. He Really Likes Me.**

_Tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock…_

The shorter clock hand closed in on 3. Most students had long fallen asleep before this hour to gear themselves up for the Monday blues. Some nocturnal ones were still up, aspiring to top the class with some intense studying, attempting to ascend another gaming level, or… indulging in some hanky-panky that could only be accomplished at this sort of devilish hour.

Ivan was doing none of these. He had been lying in bed for hours, but he could not sleep. Not when his heart was pulsating at 120 beats per minute. The only thing that kept recurring in his mind was Yao's return.

Their reunion had been so surreal and fairytale-like (he thinks) that Ivan could hardly believe that it was more than just a dream. Yet the foreign but endearing scent of peonies in Yao's soft, black hair, the enduring sweet aftertaste of his lips and the fiery defiance in his amber eyes that pierced through his own violet ones told him that it was real.

Ivan had long since took it for granted that people disliked him for no apparent reason. Aloofness, fear, avoidance, aversion... these were the attitudes he was conditioned to get accustomed to. A long time ago, anger and confrontation knew him, but ever since he was big enough to protect himself, nobody reproached him in any way. He had people at his beck and call, but deep down, he was always empty and lonely. For the second time in years, Ivan felt a rush of emotions warming his cold heart.

He had finally met someone in this school who did not look at him as though he was the devil-incarnate. And now, a mere few hours after their run-in in the corridor, Ivan began to sense a new-found insecurity.

"Toris… are you awake?"

"Zzz…"

"Toris…"

"Zzzzzz…"

"Toris?"

"Sgnorrrk!"

"TORIS!"

"Huh?" Toris shot up in fright, his head connecting painfully with the base of Ivan's upper deck. Ouch. What a torturous night!

"What?" Toris massaged his sore head resentfully.

"I was asking you if you were awake."

"I wasn't, but I sure am now," Toris groaned.

Ignoring his room mate's grumpy tone, Ivan proceeded to consult Toris about a problem that had been bugging him all night.

"You know that Yao and I go way back da?"

"Umm... yes," Toris replied. Having been bullied into taking part in Ivan's search for Yao, Toris knew that Ivan's idea of going way back with someone was having an intense one-sided crush on him. While Toris did not agree with that, in the past three months that he had spent in the Russian's company, he had come to accept that Ivan had rather unique views on various matters. It was advisable to adopt his view too, or at least pretend to do so, if he did not wish to come to a sticky end.

"But Yao doesn't seem to remember me~" Ivan said morosely.

"He's only met you once and that was three months ago," Toris explained reasonably.

"But he accompanied me for hours and fed me," Ivan said, convinced that he must have left a strong impression on Yao.

Toris longed to inform Ivan that he was not in fact on the receiving end of 'special treatment' from Yao. Last year, Yao had bandaged his ankle when he sprained it at last year's Track and Field Meet and stayed at him with the hospital for two days. But unlike a certain Latvian, he knew it would be suicidal and thus, decided to keep quiet and let the Russian indulge in his fantasy.

"Do you think Yao is mad at me?" Ivan asked.

"That was pretty obvious, wasn't it?" in his semi-conscious sleep-deprived state, Toris could not be bothered to honey-coat his exasperation, even if he was talking to the devil himself.

"Why? Isn't kissing a form of affection?"

"Not the way you did it. That's sexual harassment all right," Toris resisted the urge to add 'pervert' at the back.

"I don't understand."

Sighing inwardly, Toris tried to explain, "Well think about it this way. You didn't like it when Francis sprang a kiss on you right?"

"Francis is scary. I'm not," Ivan replied matter-of-factly.

Yeah right, Toris rolled his eyes.

"The point is, nobody likes being forced into doing something he didn't want to do. Being kissed by someone you don't like falls in that category," Toris said emphatically.

Suddenly, the Lithuanian was staring into Ivan's upside down face hanging down the side of their double-deck bed.

"Wah!" Toris cried, clutching his chest in shock.

"So. You think that Yao hates me, do you? Kolkolkolkol..."

"No! No no! I mean, you two have only met twice and he doesn't even seem to remember you," Toris waved his hands frantically.

"But I like him very much. I dream of him every night," Ivan pouted from his topsy-turvy position.

"Some people warm up less quickly. Heh heh..."

"Hmm..." Ivan pondered.

"Go back to sleep all right? We still have to go for detention tomorrow. I heard that Wang Yao likes to assign chores as punishment," Toris groaned inwardly at the prospect of performing drudgery after an entire morning of Monday classes.

"That means he might like me da?" the stubborn Russian pursued.

"Probably," Toris concurred weakly. He really needed to get back to lala-land and bask in blissful ignorance before he had to come back to reality and live his miserable life.

He heaved a sigh of relief when Ivan disappeared back to bed.

_Tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock…_

For Ivan, the next 12 hours could not pass soon enough.

**To be continued...**

* * *

**Free Talk:**

Ivan: All together now~ "Poor Toris!" Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: You don't sound very sincere aru.

Ivan: It's hard to suppress my happiness when I know I'm going to do detention with my dearest Yao da? Who knows what will happen between us next? Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Well this was a short chapter, but you can already tell how thick-skinned and self-centered this polar bear is.

Ivan: When faced with a tsundere like you, it's important to be thick-skinned da?

Yao: Who's a tsundere? Not me for sure.

Ivan: Oh? Let me prove it. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Ow! What are you doing? Get off me! Stop! Don't unbutton my clothes aru!

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ The exact words of a tsundere~

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	7. Taking Responsibility

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Taking Responsibility**

It was a lazy Monday afternoon in the Student's Council Room. After another fruitless session of supposed collective brainstorming about this and that severely disrupted by a streaking Francis who declared that the weather was too hot for any clothes, the head student councilors of Hetalia Gakuen adjourned for a short break to ease their tempers.

"Kitty-chan! Kitty-chan! Where are you aru? Nyan nyan~" Yao cooed as he shifted stacks of paper around the conference table in search for his beloved Hello Kitty bento box.

"Seriously? You're talking to a bento box? Get a life! What do you expect it to do? Come treading out of its hiding place?" Arthur scoffed.

"Aiya I was just voicing out my inner thoughts to myself," Yao replied stoutly. "Like you always do aru," he could not resist adding.

"Excuse me! Pixies, fairies, unicorns… they exist! Just because you blind mortals don't see them doesn't mean we ignore their presence!" Arthur hotly slammed a palm on the table top, scattering his tarot cards in the process.

"Arthur, you should join my drama club. We're recruiting script writers with wild… uh… good imagination and we could do with talent like you," Alfred piped up in between chomps of hamburger.

"This, coming from someone who believes in little green men? What a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black," Francis drawled lazily as he admired his dreamy visage in his hand-held mirror.

"Aiya! Why don't you guys lend me a hand since you're doing nothing important?" complained an exasperated Yao. "Come on, someone must have seen my bento box. I only left it here last night aru. I even recall that it has a half-eaten bun in it aru."

"All the more reason not to find it," Francis made a face.

"Just ditch that girly hobby and grow some balls already," Arthur grumbled, annoyed that his tarot card reading session was being severely disrupted.

"Maybe he can't?" Alfred supplied unhelpfully.

"Why you…!"

"I assure you that he does have them. I have seen with my own eyes!" Francis proclaimed, receiving a shell-shocked look from Yao.

"Saw 'em when we went for toilet break together, sweetheart," he winked salaciously.

Yao pursed his lips and looked away. Oh Heavens, when the Frenchman was in heat, his company was unbearable. Yao knew Francis threw endearments around like nobody's business, but such public displays of affection still disturbed his conservative self.

"… not as magnificent as mine of course, but a true symbol of manhood nonetheless," the Frenchman said triumphantly, greatly enjoying his verbal torment.

Yao was torn between escaping from the room and attacking Francis with a stack of hardcover reference books.

"For God's sake! Can you please spare us from your lewd revelations? Don't you have anything better to do than to watch other people pee?" Arthur snapped. Whatever holy spiritual presence he had previously experienced had completely dissipated, undoubtedly put off by the brazen nature of the conversation in this room.

"Thank you Arthur," Alfred said, completely misinterpreting who 'us' referred to. "Though to be fair, you were the one who started it."

"Shut up, bastard! No one asked for your opinion!" Arthur retorted.

"… but just so you know, I swing all ways, so if you ever decide to explore your… masculinity… I'm here for you, _ma jolie_," Francis blew a kiss at a deeply vexed Yao who was now desperately rubbing down the goosebumps that had erupted all over his arms.

"Heavens! If you have nothing helpful to say, just shut up aru!" Finally deciding not to stoop to the Westerners' juvenile level, Yao compromised by bending down on the pretext of searching under the table to hide his scarlet face.

A pair of clarion, amethyst eyes met his own amber ones.

"Aiyaaaa! What are you doing under the table aru!" Yao leapt up in shock.

"I came for detention like you asked me to!" Ivan smiled sweetly as he crawled out from under the table. In the process, he was careful to bump hard into a dumbfounded Francis, causing him to topple backwards together with his chair. Francis scrambled to his feet and sped off towards the exit, screaming bloody murder.

A stupefied Yao turned to his fellow student councilors in search of answers, only to be greeted by an even stranger sight of Arthur clinging onto Alfred as though his life depended on it.

"What are you doing here? When did you get in?" Arthur goggled at Ivan, his usually brusque voice developing a slight trill.

"Don't worry, Arthur, I'll protect you!" Alfred said, lifting one clenched fist into the air like Superman while putting his free arm around a trembling Arthur.

"I came to help Yao find his bento box since none of you will help him~" With a dazzling smile, Ivan whipped out the Kitty-chan bento box and presented it to Yao. Yao grabbed the box in surprise and bent down and looked under the table to check for secret entrances that the intruder could have sprouted up from.

"So... the detention da?"

"Oh, oh yes," Yao said, finally regaining his composure and standing up. "Arthur will assign your detention to you."

"What detention?" Arthur's voice was almost positively whiny now.

"Aiya I told you about it this morning, didn't I?" Yao frowned impatiently. "Because your delightful European juniors needed to be instilled some discipline for... er... " Yao's face flushed at the memory of his run-in with Ivan the previous night, "unruly behaviour aru!"

"Speaking of which," Yao turned to address Ivan, "Where are your two friends aru?"

"Toris and Eduard? Haven't seen them~" Ivan blinked innocently.

* * *

  
Half an hour ago in Eduard's and Raivis' dormitory, Eduard tried to convince Raivis to go for detention.

"Raivis, be a man and come to detention with us. You were the perpetrator after all," Eduard tried to drag the little Latvian with him out of the door.

"Why should I when I wasn't asked to? You guys were stupid enough to get caught!" Raivis said as he tried to beat Eduard's hand away.

"Gasp! LATVIA!"

"So, I'm stupid, am I? Kolkolkolkol~"

"N...no... what I meant was..."

"It's all right, I wanted to go for detention all by myself anyway, kolkolkolkol~" Ivan chuckled eerily as he pulled out ropes and masking tape from his school bag...

* * *

"Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan smiled, casting the room in a sinister chill that made everyone's hair stand on ends, and all the more, steeling Arthur's resolution against giving the Russian detention.

"Leave me out of this! Every time I take him for detention, something bad happens to me!" Arthur shook his head profusely.

"Arthur Kirkland! I demand some responsibility from you as head student councilor of the European cohort aru!" Yao hotly reminded Arthur of his position of great accountability.

"What? He was the one who kissed you! Ask him to take responsibility," Arthur said defensively, deliberately misconstruing his words.

Yao felt a familiar tinge of warmth rush over his cheeks.

"Now I know why your juniors turn out this way. You set a terrible example aru," Yao said with contempt.

"May I take this opportunity to remind you about the time your incredibly well-behaved junior and cousin Im Yong Soo grabbed my chest and barbarically declared my non-existent breasts as his without so much as an apology?" Arthur retorted furiously.

Yao had nothing in response, save for an even redder face.

"You can assign my detention, I would love to do your detention~" Ivan said affably.

Yao narrowed his eyes. He had never seen anyone so eager about serving detention under his supervision. Somehow, he found this vaguely familiar, but could not recall why. The Russian stared back at him with innocent puppy eyes.

"Fine, fine," Yao shrugged, "Follow me."

Watching Yao and Ivan leave the room together, Alfred said in awe, "I admit, he does have balls after all."

"Yea, mind getting your hands off me now, you bastard?"

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**Free Talk:**

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ I made a really impressive entrance, didn't I?

Yao: More like a shocking entrance. How exactly did you come in aru?

Ivan: I don't know if you recall, in the anime, Arthur performed a spell to summon the devil, and I appeared instead kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Arthur must have dealt a devil then =_=

Ivan: Da~

Francis: Bonjour mon amour!

Ivan: What are _you_ doing here?

Francis: Don't be so hostile~ Nii-san is here to teach you French.

Yao: So kindly explain why you used a feminine term on me aru.

Francis: Oh~ Ma jolie? Although that means 'my pretty' and is usually used on girls, I thought it was appropriate for you since you look like a girl and have a girly hobby.

Yao: How dare you aru! Ivan, hit him with your water pipe!

Francis: Wait~! Nii-san is complimenting your beauty! Am I wrong?

Ivan: No, you're not. My little sunflower is a beauty da~

Yao: Hmmph! All of you are always bullying me aru! *stomps away to find Chinese wok*

Francis: How cute~ Eh, Ivan? Why are you holding up your water pipe? Put it down. You could hurt nii-san!

Ivan: Precisely what I mean to do da~! Nobody can call my Yao 'my pretty' except myself! Kolkolkolkol~!

Francis: Nooooooo!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	8. Imaginary Bugs and Fragrant Peonies

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Imaginary Bugs and Fragrant Peonies**

Ivan trotted behind Yao as the latter led the way to the Asian quarter. Yao's build was slight, Ivan noted, compared to most of his school mates he had seen in the European quarters of Hetalia Gakuen. Yet the Asian took such wide, confident strides that Ivan, despite his long legs, had trouble keeping up with him. Then again, his attention was split between walking and staring at Yao's back, and Ivan was one of those people who could not multi-task very well.

If Hetalia Gakuen was not an all-boys' school, Yao would certainly be mistaken for a girl, Ivan mused as his eyes traced the outline of the Chinese man's back ardently. The student councilor could easily pass off as one, with his graceful demeanor, long sooty hair pulled back into a ponytail, slender shoulders, svelte waistline and... that perky little butt. Ivan's eyes glazed over as he started fantasizing about squeezing it...

"Excuse me?" Yao was suddenly right in front of Ivan, glaring downwards. Ivan followed his gaze and to his horror (delight), discovered that his hand had disobediently (intelligently) played out his fantasy mid-way and was now resting against said perky butt. Oopsie.

"Get it off. Now, aru!" Yao glared so hard at the offending hand that it practically shrank away from the invisible fumes of fury that the Chinese was now emitting.

"The mosquito da? Don't worry, I've already gotten if off for you," Ivan grinned widely to conceal his embarrassment as he slapped his hands together on pretext of brushing away a mosquito's crushed body.

Yao had to take a deep breath and count to ten to stop himself from blowing up.

"Don't creep around behind me. Walk by my side," he instructed curtly, and then marched off at top speed again.

"Wait, don't walk so fast!" Ivan whined as he quickened his pace to walk beside Yao. That had its benefits too, Ivan realized, for Yao had a beautiful side profile, giving him an unobstructed view of rosy, pinchable cheeks and a soft jawline. Wispy loose strands of hair that escaped the clutches of Yao's hair tie fell delicately against the white collar of his mandarin jacket.

Ivan was so mesmerized that it took his brain a while to accurately register the sudden intrusion of yellow stripes, rapidly beating wings and alarming buzzing noise.

_Yao__ is so delicate and beautiful like a flower that even bees are attracted to him._

Ivan grinned stupidly at this thought as the bee settled on Yao's head.

_Wait a second, was that a bee?_

No way could he allow this dangerous assailant to sting his angel. Instinctively, Ivan stretched out his hand to crush it, grabbing Yao's silken tresses in the process. Yao jumped violently, leaving several strands of hair in Ivan's clenched fist.

"What the hell is wrong with you aru?" Yao exploded, causing several heads to turn while sending the Russian cowering in fear behind a pillar.

"I was just stopping this bee from stinging you!" Ivan cried, waving the lifeless furry yellow and black little body in Yao's face. "It's the truth this time, I swear!"

Taking into account Ivan's blatant admittance to his previous lie, Yao was less than grateful. "I really hate shouting at people aru," Yao stormed. "If you dare make me lose my temper, I will..."

"You have already lost it," Ivan stuck out a quavering bottom lip and stared at Yao out of large, watery eyes. He looked so pitiful and huggable (gasp! Yao could not believe himself for thinking that) that Yao had to close his eyes and look away. Ivan hastily shoved the hairs he had accidentally grabbed from his angel into his pocket.

"Walk in front of me," Yao pointed to the path ahead.

"Eh? But I don't know the way..."

"It's just a straight path ahead aru. I'll tell you when you need to turn."

Resignedly, Ivan trotted to the front and the pair walked on in silence. Now he had nothing to pleasure his eyes, save for dull green shrubbery that lined the path connecting the administration building to the Asian quarter. However, as they neared their destination, exotic smells of flowers, bright explosions of red and pink and loud voices chattering away in foreign languages proved a fascinating distraction.

Noticing the visitor's captivation by the blossoms that decorated the front compound of the Asian academic building, Yao proceeded to explain, "The trees on the right are the cherry blossoms of Japan. The flowers on the right are peonies, my country's national flower. Those ahead are hibiscus from Korea..."

Ivan had visited the Asian building several times, but always when he was feeling annoyed or anxious about Yao's absence. This was the first time he could truly admire the beauty of the foreign surroundings with a light heart.

Ivan had always loved flowers, especially sunflowers, and had a pretty good nose for them. Just by smelling, he could differentiate different species of sunflowers. Delighted by the lovely new scenery, Ivan inhaled deeply the fresh air mixed with the fragrances of the wide array of oriental floral. One particular scent jolted his memory.

"Oh, so you wear peonies da! I remember smelling it in your hair," Ivan beamed, and then flushed at his memory of their meeting from the night before.

"Of course not! I wouldn't do such a girly thing aru!" Yao retorted agitatedly. The gall of this idiot to mention that horrid incident when he's being punished for it right now, he thought. "I... I wear peony-scented cologne. It's for national pride ok?" Yao said huffily.

"That's nothing wrong with wearing flowers on your head, especially when you have such a pretty one!" Ivan complimented sincerely. Yao flushed, greatly annoyed by the unsubtle nature of these indecent Westerners.

"Ok cut the talk and turn right aru."

Ivan turned and promptly walked into a cherry tree.

"No, silly! Step through the double doors, enter the building and turn right."

After his earlier visits to the Asian compound in his first month, Ivan hardly had any occasion to enter the Asian quarters. In Hetalia Gakuen, students from different countries and regions took different classes and indulged in different activities in their own unique quarters, so there was hardly any opportunity to mingle on a regular basis apart from social activities, unless they decided to take a class from that particular region. As Ivan walked down the corridor with Yao, he was deeply intrigued by the oriental designs on wallpaper that covered the walls on both sides of the corridors, the intricately painted paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling and framed calligraphy works that resembled paintings.

Even more so, he was surprised by how popular Wang Yao was with the student population. Every corner he turned, students greeted him buoyantly, which he returned with a smile and wave.

"Yao-nii!"

"Yao-sempai!"

Some of the older students greeted "Yao-chan!" "Xiao Yao!", which Yao returned with a bow and sometimes, with clasped fists.

Although the friendliness of these people was not directed towards him, he was touched, and maybe even a little envious. This was all too different from the coldness he had to endure among even his own race.

Eventually, they came to a halt in front of a small room with paper screen doors, which Yao introduced as the calligraphy room. Yao slid open the door, revealing a classroom with regular chairs and tables and noticeboards covered in calligraphy writing. It was rather messy, with rolls of paper lying about in various corners of the floor, and ink bottles and brushes strewn all over the shelves and tables.

"Sorry boys, no staying behind after club hours!" Yao called to the few students who had remained behind after club activities for some extra practice.

The students obediently began packing up to clear out. Ivan noted that one of them bore a slight resemblance to Yao; the same round eyes and soft jawline. He even wore a similar mandarin jacket under his vest. The only differences were that he had short hair, rather thicker than normal eyebrows and a passive face devoid of expression.

"Aiya! Xiang, why are you still here aru! Don't you have martial arts class at this time?" Yao made a beeline towards the boy whom Ivan had been observing.

"I forgot the time, Da Ge. I'm going now. Are you making dinner tonight?"

"Yes aru. I'll be making your favourite Har Gau," Yao ruffled the boy's hair, causing Ivan to feel a pang of jealousy.

"Yay," the boy called Xiang replied expressionlessly.

Ivan thought this was very unfair. If he himself had the pleasure of eating Yao's Har Gau, whatever that was, he would reciprocate with much more zest.

"You'd better get going aru," Yao made a shooing motion.

"Ok Da Ge, see you later," Xiang slung his backpack over his shoulder, gave Ivan a tentative nod and left the classroom.

"My little brother Wang Xiang. He's in first year. Took him only one shot at the entrance exam to get in," Yao said proudly in response to Ivan's quizzical look.

Ah, they're brothers. That explains it. Ivan heaved a sigh of relief as the pangs of jealousy that struck him previously began ebbing away. Then again, he could not help angsting over the injustice of life. Xiang had such a nice and cute brother, while he was stuck with a crybaby of an older sister and a monster of a younger sister. Oh, but if he was Yao's brother, then it would not be possible for him to fall in love with Yao. At that thought, a blissful smile re-emerged on Ivan's face. There's a God in the heavens after all.

Blissfully oblivious to the turbulence that had just passed behind his back, Yao pointed out the areas that needed tidying up.

"I'll be in the back office. Come and see me when you're done aru," Yao indicated the small door at the back of the room.

"Da!" Ivan smiled genially. This detention would be fun.

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: Phew that was one long chapter with a whole lot of descriptions da!

Yao: Yes, H-chan is bad at writing narrative description, so don't blame yourself if you don't know what she's talking about aru. She was basically trying to go for an oriental setting that also included symbols of other Asian countries aru. Also, the uniforms that all students in this school wear are based on Hiramuya's designs for the Gakuen Hetalia game. I wear a white mandarin-collared shirt under my vest aru.

Ivan: Why do we still have to wear school uniforms when we're university students?

Yao: Because the author is dumb and forgot, that's why. However, it can also be assumed that Prof Roma wanted to earn more money by having students pay for school uniforms.

Ivan: I see~ Can we have some clarifications now please? I see a lot of Chinese words that I don't understand.

Yao: Sure aru. First of all, there is Xiang, which is my brother Hong Kong's name. It's not an official human name, but a lot of Chinese fans use it. His full name in this story is Wang Xiang. For future reference, Taiwan is Wang Wan. Xiang calls me Da Ge, which is big brother in Chinese aru. Then there's Har Gau, which is Cantonese for Shrimp Dumplings. It's a kind of dim sum. I think I pretty much covered everything aru.

Ivan: What about Xiao Yao?

Yao: That's like the Chinese equivalent for Yao-chan. It's used by seniors to address juniors or among close friends and relations.

Ivan: So I can call you Xiao Yao?

Yao: No, you can't.

Ivan: Why not? I'm your close relation ( ; J ; ).

Yao: You're neither my sibling nor my relative.

Ivan: But you're mine da? I'm your husband and that makes me even closer than your siblings and relatives.

Yao: Only in your dreams aru!

Ivan: I can turn it into reality da~! *pounce*

Yao: Nooooo aru...!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	9. Second Chances

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Second Chances**

Yao always believed in second chances. That was why Ivan was wiping calligraphic brushes in the Calligraphy room while Yao sat in the room's back office, pondering how best to approach the oppressor about his aggressive behaviour towards his peers.

After all, it had been Yao who single-handedly brought his cousin Honda Kiku back into the light when the latter was at his rebellious age, often skipping school to play computer games. Thanks to his patience and care, Kiku was now one of the most well-disciplined and best-performing students in the third year. His other cousin Im Yong Soo was still ill-disciplined by Asian standards, but hey, at least he only claimed breasts and not vital regions like some other perverse European students that he had heard about.

Determined to help Ivan by using his inborn talent for nurturing, Yao pored over a gigantic ring file labeled 'Ivan Braginski Detention Records' and read through the entries documenting the Russian's wayward conduct since the beginning of the school year.

_1 April 2010  
Offence: Bit Francis Bonnefoy at Freshman Induction Ceremony  
Detention by: Arthur Kirkland  
Remarks: Write lines 'I am not a dog and will not bite people again'. Detention cut short due to power shortage._

Yao did a double take. As memories of the incident came flooding back, he recalled Ivan as the boy who had retaliated when Francis acted in a lewd manner towards him. Ivan had seemed to be such a decent and sweet boy back then when he had spent time with him in the school clinic. Now, within a mere period of three months, Ivan had become every bit a pervert like Francis. This school was clearly going to the dogs. Sighing and shaking his head, Yao read on.

_3 April 2010  
Offence: Assaulted Toris Lorinaitis for no apparent reason  
Detention by: Arthur Kirkland  
Remarks: Clean the tea room. Detention cut short after Arthur Kirkland was hospitalized for food poisoning._

8 April 2010  
Offence: Strangled Toris Lorinaitis for touching his scarf by mistake  
Detention by: Professor Roma  
Remarks: Lecture cut short after Prof. R was attacked by sudden acute pains in all his scars.

13 April 2010  
Offence: Assaulted Eduard von Bock for no apparent reason  
Detention by: Arthur Kirkland  
Remarks: Detention canceled after Arthur Kirkland started hyperventilating for God knows why.

17 April 2010  
Offence: Added undiluted Vodka to Ludwig's wurst.  
Detention by: Francis Bonnefoy  
Remarks: Write lines 'I am not Arthur Kirkland and will not poison people with unedible food'. Detention ended early. No reason needed.

19 April 2010  
Offence: Assaulted Toris Lorinaitis for no apparent reason  
Detention by: Arthur Kirkland  
Remarks: Water pipe confiscated by Arthur Kirkland. Screw you, wine freak! By the way, it's 'inedible', not 'unedible'. Pass your English mid-terms before you laugh at me, bastard!

19 April 2010  
Offence: Arthur Kirkland fell down 6 flights of stairs and sprained his ankle.  
Detention by: -  
Remarks: No concrete proof that Ivan Braginski was behind this, but Minty sees it all.

20 April 2010  
Offence: Fought with Feliks Łukasiewicz over Toris Lorinaitis' assault  
Detention by: Sir Germania  
Remarks: Lecture cut short after Sir G fainted from heat stroke. At 15 degree celsius. Go figure.

22 April 2010  
Offence: Assaulted Gilbert Beilschmidt for no apparent reason  
Detention by: Francis Bonnefoy  
Remarks: Detention ended early. No reason needed. A pleasure, mon chéri~ I dropped English for Home Economics. It's so much more useful. I think you will agree~

25 April 2010  
Offence: Assaulted Toris Lorinaitis for no apparent reason  
Detention by: Francis Bonnefoy  
Remarks: Detention ended early. No reason needed.

27 April 2010  
Offence: Demanded for the return of his water pipe  
Detention by: -  
Remarks: Arthur Kirkland's ankle recovered after returning Ivan Braginski's water pipe. There is definitely something fishy about this. Minty agrees with me.

28 April 2010  
Offence: Suspected of dabbling with devil's magic  
Detention by: -  
Remarks: Minty heard Ivan Braginski mutter about cursing Arthur Kirkland. Something needs to be done!

29 April 2010  
Offence: -  
Detention by: -  
Remarks: Arthur mon chéri, this is not your personal scriptwriting notebook. Stop writing meaningless entries. Also, imaginary friends do not count as evidence.

30 April 2010  
Offence: -  
Detention by: -  
Remarks: Look who's talking, wine bastard. Minty EXISTS.

2 May 2010  
Offence: Assaulted Toris Lorinaitis for no apparent reason.  
Detention by: Francis Bonnefoy  
Remarks: Detention ended early. No reason needed. Minty exists in your head. Go get it checked.

5 May 2010  
Offence: Assaulted Lovino Vargas for no apparent reason.  
Detention by: -  
Remarks: You're the one who needs your head checked! You coward! Early my foot! You didn't administer the detentions at all.

8 May 2010  
Offence: Assaulted Toris Lorinaitis for no apparent reason  
Detention by: Francis Bonnefoy  
Remarks: Detention ended early. No reason needed. HAHA what happened to the detention on 5th May?

Rolling his eyes as he scoured through numerous entries of Arthur and Francis abusing the file as a chat room, Yao eventually gave up. He had gotten the gist that Ivan liked using his school mates, especially the one called Toris Lorinaitis, as punching bags and essentially had not been put through a proper detention or counseling session. That was why he, Wang Yao, the big brother of the Asian cohort, was going to fix this and prove to the Europeans that they were the sissy ones, he thought triumphantly.

He flipped to the last page to create a new entry, and was surprised that someone had already done so.

_1 July 2010  
Offence: Indulged in passionate foreplay with Wang Yao in student dormitory corridor.  
Detention by: Wang Yao  
Remarks: Ma jolie, even if your heart stops beating, mine will beat for you forever and ever ~Au revoir, nii-san  
If you must die, please choose somewhere away from the European quarter.  
Have you drawn up your will? Call my cell. I can recommend you some lawyers ~heroically yours, Alfred_

"Aiya! Who the heck wrote this aru! Must be that idiot Francis," Yao cursed as he hurriedly grabbed a white-out and replaced the offending text with "Assaulted Wang Yao in student dormitory corridor." Yes that sounded a lot more decent. Hmmph, these guys had such a poor opinion on him, did they? He would prove them wrong.

A soft knock on the door told him that his charge had finished the chores he had delegated him.

"Come in!"

"I'm done~" Ivan said cheerfully as his large frame entered the room.

Pointing to the chair opposite his own, Yao said, "Take a seat aru. Let's have a chat."

"Da!" the Russian practically bounded over.

He would show them. Yes he would. And if Ivan tried anything funny, he could always protect himself with Ivan's gigantic detention records file. It was about the same weight as his trusty Chinese wok, possibly even heavier. Nothing could go wrong.

Could it?

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ Knowing how evil H-chan is, I believe a lot of things could go well da~!

Yao: I shudder to think of it aru. About this chapter, most of it is written in the form of log entries because H-chan wanted to demonstrate what a trouble-making bully Ivan was without being too long-winded. In the end it became a banter between Francis and Arthur because these 2 guys are just ridiculous aru.

Ivan: Da~! And we hear that Americans like to sue, hence the reference of lawyers by Alfred.

Yao: Although a recent googling attempt shows that majority of Americans do not actually have wills.

Ivan: I guess regardless of your nationality and ethnicity, everybody thinks of death as morbid da~! Kolkolkolkol~!

Yao: _You_ seem to take delight in it aru.

Ivan: Kolkolkolkolkolkolkolkol~!

Yao: I seem to have triggered something. See you in the next chapter aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	10. I Can Kiss You da?

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Warning: Explicit description of M/M kissing**

**Chapter 10: I Can Kiss You da?**

Yao was pleasantly surprised by how much the calligraphy room had changed for the better, post-Ivan treatment. He had not expected much of an improvement, as most students were not good with chores or they would not have left their mess behind in the first place. The main purpose of detention was to deprive students of fun and freedom while giving them an opportunity, hopefully, to dwell on their mistakes when they were bored to tears. One glance through the door as the Russian shuffled into his chair revealed that the room had never looked this neat and lovely before. Ivan had even taken the liberty to place a vase of sunflowers in the middle, brightening up the small room considerably.

"Well done aru!" Yao nodded approvingly.

"You can count on me for anything da!" Ivan smiled, fluttering his long eyelashes happily at the praise. Violet eyes sparkled with child-like innocence. It had been a long time since anyone had complimented him like this.

_Aiyaaaa... sooooo cuuute... aru!_

Fireworks burst inside Yao's mind as memories of Ivan's wolfish behaviour from yesterday evaporated completely. With Ivan being so adorably obedient, this detention was going to be a cinch! Those Westerners always made mountains out of molehills!

"Um... I've been longing to ask you this," Ivan said shyly. "Do you remember me? You took care of me at the school clinic on my first day at school da?" He looked at Yao hopefully.

"Yes aru, I remember you," Yao nodded.

"I'm so happy da~! I knew you would remember me," Ivan smiled blissfully as faint pink blushes appeared on his cheeks. Yao had a sudden urge to hug him, but he managed to restrain himself.

"We may know each other, but that doesn't mean I'll let you get away with poor conduct aru," Yao said, putting on his sternest face while racking his brains to remember why on earth he had delegated detention to this harmless lovable giant teddy bear. The problem with having so many important responsibilities on top of being a Masters student and everyone's big brother was that one's brain tended to be saturated most of the time, causing memories at the top layer to come and go.

"I'm sorry for kissing you yesterday! You will forgive me da?" Ivan burst out whining, putting on his most winsome puppy eyes. It always worked on people he first met, before they somehow got immune to them after being hit by his water pipe too many times. Perhaps it would work on Yao.

Oh, that. Yao's nightmarish memory came back in full force.

"Only if you realize your mistake and stop doing it," Yao said severely as he began re-arming all invisible defenses previously stripped by Ivan's cute attack.

"Yes I've learnt my mistake and I won't do it again," Ivan nodded fervently.

"But you do realize why it's a mistake, don't you?" Yao asked doubtfully.

"Yes I do! It's sexual harassment to kiss someone without permission da?"

"Yes," Yao said, surprised and glad that Ivan had gotten the point so well without needing a lecture.

"So if I ask for permission, it's not sexual harassment da?"

"I suppose so aru," Yao could not think of a reason otherwise.

"Then, I can kiss you da?" Without warning, Ivan had launched himself forward and placed both his hands on the arms of Yao's chair, effectively trapping Yao between the chair and himself.

"What!" cried Yao, stunned as Ivan's face closed in on his own. Apparently, Ivan had not gotten the point at all.

"Can I? Can I?" Ivan's eyes shone with anticipation. Yao could not help thinking that if Ivan had a tail, it would be wagging furiously now.

All it took was a mere millisecond of hesitation. Mistaking Yao's very brief stunned silence for consent, Ivan pulled Yao into a back-breaking hug and sealed the deal with a searing smooch.

Once again, Yao found himself fighting for air as Ivan continued to kiss him possessively, his long tongue grazing the insides of Yao's small mouth. Yao pummeled and clawed at the Russian's broad back. He kicked out with his feet. But he might as well have been attacking a rock. Ivan, taking great delight in his afternoon meal, paid no attention to the little jabs of pain caused by his struggling prey. He had been tormented by so many sleepless nights. It was time he got some compensation in return.

_Why does this idiot have an unlimited air supply, while I'm drowning in his saliva..._

Drowning... that's it... maybe if I stop struggling, he will release his hold, and then I can...

To his great relief, Ivan found his advances readily accepted as Yao ceased his weak yet interfering assault. Letting down his guard, Ivan loosened his grip on the other man's lips. Predatory urgency gave way to passionate desire as his tongue slowed down to explore his subject of affection lovingly.

Ivan slid his fingers into Yao's hair and stroked the soft smooth strands slowly. It was something Yekaterina used to do to console him whenever he came home crying from being bullied in school. Soothed by the tender gesture, Yao found himself sliding his tongue inside Ivan's mouth with willing reciprocation. The larger man's lips were surprisingly soft and warm.

Encouraged by Yao's submission, Ivan's encroachment grew lustier. He slid a slightly sweaty hand under Yao's shirt and began caressing Yao's back.

A moan escaped Yao's throat. He practically choked upon hearing the shameless sound. He was aroused. And announcing it. Shocked at the revelation, Yao jerked his leg up and kneed Ivan hard. Where it hurts most.

"Ow!" Ivan keeled over on the floor, covering his vital regions with his hands.

"You're incorrigible aru!" Yao shouted as he tugged his shirt back into place, his face a flaming red at the shame of his own subconscious mind yielding to such a disgraceful act.

"I give up aru! I don't care anymore!" Yao stormed towards the door, kicking his chair hard to vent his anger such that it flew to the end of the room. But Ivan stretched out a hand and gripped his ankle in a vice-like grip, stopping him in his tracks. Yao tried stepping on it to make it go away, but said hand was incredibly thick-skinned and stubborn.

"I... I love you! I've wanted you ever since I met you on my first day in school! Please don't leave me!" Ivan groaned.

At the shocking confession, Yao stopped trying to step on Ivan's hand.

"This is the most nonsensical thing I've ever heard aru. And I grew up with Yong Soo," Yao shook his head ruefully.

Ivan sat bolt upright. "How is it nonsensical?" he demanded, stung that his beloved thought so poorly of his love.

"We've only met briefly, and since yesterday, all you've done is antagonize me," Yao berated. He was no stranger to ridiculous love letters and confessions, but at least none of his admirers had violated him in such a vulgar manner.

"That can't be! I know you like me da! You make me feel loved. I have never felt this way in my life," Ivan's eyes went spacey as he thought of all the attention Yao had lavished on him thus far, and of course, the two romantic (in his opinion) kisses they shared over a mere period of two days.

"You are mistaken aru. If this is the only so-called love you have experienced, then your life is very sad aru. Now let me go or I will really step on your hand!" Yao said as he shook his foot vigorously to get rid of the obstinate hand.

"My life is indeed very sad da. Even my parents hate me," Ivan looked up sorrowfully at Yao, his eyes glistening with tears.

"Rubbish! No parent would hate their children!" Yao exclaimed, shocked at such an extreme proclamation.

"When I was younger," Ivan said mournfully, "Papa would get drunk on vodka and beat up me, Yekatarina and Natalia. Now Yekatarina cries all the time and Natalia is always trying to stab someone. I try to be nice to everyone, but..." Ivan let out a loud sniff.

"Oh dear," Yao pursed his lips as he knelt down in front of Ivan. "What about your mother?"

"Ever since Papa was jailed for child abuse, Mama took Yekaterina and Natalia to live in Ukraine. They didn't take me because they think boys should be independent. I have been in a boarding school since high school," Ivan let out a strangled sob and buried his face in his palms.

"You poor thing!" Yao cried, enveloping Ivan in his arms. "It's all right, you can cry in front of me. Don't bottle it all up."

Yao held Ivan quietly, occasionally rubbing the Russian's back comfortingly as he sobbed into his shoulder. Poor, poor Ivan. No wonder he had such a violent streak. This was no regular bullying problem that could be curbed with detentions and lectures. Yao wondered what he could do to help him.

"That's why I love Yao~ Because Yao is nicest to me~" Ivan stole another kiss from Yao's lips while he was in deep thought.

"Aiya! Stop this indecency already aru! And don't call me Yao! That's only for family and friends!" Yao snapped as he stood up quickly before Ivan could molest him further.

"I thought you cared for me," fresh tears streaked down Ivan's cheeks.

"Aiya I do! But not in that way! To me, you're a junior whom I'll try my best to guide and help. That is all aru. It's simply impossible to love someone I've briefly met," Yao said firmly.

"Don't you believe in love at first sight? I sure do," Ivan pouted.

"No, I don't," Yao replied firmly. "And love cannot be compelled aru, so whether you believe in it or not, it doesn't make a difference to me."

"What if I woo you and make you fall in love with me willingly?" Ivan asked hopefully.

Yao raised his eyebrows. That was a really tall order, considering that thus far, Ivan had done nothing except make his blood boil. Besides, he seriously doubted that Ivan understood what true love was.

Tears started dancing in Ivan's violet eyes again.

"Aiya do as you wish! But don't you dare come crying to me if I don't reciprocate aru!" Yao said wearily.

_I won't... because I'll make you love me. By hook or by crook. Kolkolkolkol..._

"So I can call you Yao da?"

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ Wasn't that a delightful chapter?

Yao: ... /

Ivan: My little sunflower is too embarrassed to talk, so I guess it will just be me for this chapter. This is H-chan's second time writing a kissing scene, and this time, it goes from non-consensual to consensual. Does it satisfy? If it doesn't I'll go back and hit her with my water pipe...

Yao: It was never consensual aru!

Ivan: Oh yes? Then what about that sensual moan of approval da?

Yao: I just choked on my saliva aru!

Ivan: Haha you're so bad at lying, Yao~

Yao: You're no better yourself! I still remember it was mentioned in the first chapter that your parents own an oil business. So what's this nonsense about your Papa in jail and your Mama in Ukraine?

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ well, in this story, you aren't supposed to know about my background. Just be your sweet, kind self so that I can happily take advantage of your sympathy da?

Yao: This isn't how it works! I should get rewarded for kindness aru!

Ivan: I'll reward you with a romantic kiss~ Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Noooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	11. What! Aniki has a Boyfriend?

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 11: What! Aniki has a Boyfriend?**

It was dinner time for many students in Hetalia Gakuen. Most students usually ate in the cafeteria of their quarters, but some would occasionally cook personally, using the shared kitchen in the dormitory building.

One such student was Yao, who was making har gau for dinner as promised to Xiang. Yao was a very good cook, but today, he had made the dough wrapper thinner and flimsier than he should, and even then, was still mercilessly flattening all the flour out of it with a rolling pin.

"How oh how could I have let the afternoon's incident happen?" Yao thought furiously.

Ivan Braginski was merely a horny disillusioned teenager and probably acted like what many a horny disillusioned teenager did. But he, Wang Yao, was a mature adult. Yet he had not only let himself get seduced by said horny teenager but had also openly admitted his submission. He would never live it down if people got wind of this embarrassing incident.

Then there was also the issue of Ivan's dysfunctional family and violent tendencies. Ivan was indeed very pitiful, but that did not make his bullying any more justifiable. He needed to help Ivan as soon as possible, for Ivan's own sake as well as for the people around him. How he was going to do this, he did not yet have an answer. It was going to be trying, what with the lusty idiot trying to paw him every second he could. It had taken Yao about half an hour to chase Ivan out of the Asian building with the heavy detention records file. In parting, the Russian had stolen another smooch from his lips, right in front of the entire group of students trooping out after Martial Arts class, Xiang included no less.

AND. THIS. WAS. ALL. ALFRED. FUCKING. JONES'. FAULT!

Yao punctuated each word with a thump on the poor dough wrapper, which was now so thin that the wooden chopping board could almost be seen through it.

Yes, if the idiotic American had not called for a meeting during a power failure, he would not have to be summoned to the European dormitory by that crybaby Feliciano Vargas only to land himself in this bizarre European muddle which should never have been his concern in the first place.

"Aniki! Your breasts are mine!"

In his angry stupor, Yao had neglected to see his Korean cousin from the sophomore year come bounding into the kitchen. Before he could react, two all too familiar arms enveloped him from behind, while two all too familiar hands groped the front of his chest for his non-existent breasts.

"Get lost, Yong Soo! Or I'll hit you with this rolling pin aru!" Yao brandished his weapon threateningly.

"I know Aniki would never bear to hit me da-ze~" Yong Soo happily rested his chin on Yao's shoulder.

"Yao-nii can't cook if you heckle him like this, Yong Soo," Kiku chided. He had followed Yong Soo into the kitchen, albeit in a much more distinguished manner.

"Don't worry, Kiku-nii! Your turn will come next!" Yong Soo chirped merrily.

"That's it aru!" Yao swung his rolling pin in a backward movement.

A dull thud issued as wood and skull connected.

"Not fair, Aniki! The rolling pin attack originated from Korea da-ze!"

* * *

Dinner together for Yao and his beloved family members was usually a cheerful affair, but today, the ambiance was rather unusual as they sat around a small table in the dormitory room that Kiku and Yong Soo shared, eating har gau with noodles.

Xiang heaved a sigh as another har gau promptly disintegrated when he tried to lift it up with his chopsticks.

Kiku, who knew how to read the atmosphere in the room all too well, chose to keep quiet as he picked up a spoon to scoop up a broken har gau.

Only the obtuse Yong Soo had the nerve to say, "Aniki! This is not har gau! I know because har gau originated from Korea da-ze~!"

"Shut up aru! This is har gau! The skin is just a little too soft, so the fillings spill out. It is still very good har gau aru!"

"Da Ge, I think you overcooked the shrimp," Xiang said, his voice revealing a slight irritation. He had had a grueling session of martial arts and was really looking forward to a nice dinner.

"So?" Yao's eyes glinted maliciously as he put down his chopsticks.

"So it's nicer to eat than usual," Kiku replied, stepping hard on Xiang's foot.

"What! Have you lost your taste buds? This is the worst har gau I've ever eaten in my life da-ze!" Yong Soo cried.

"Then don't eat it!" Yao slammed his hands hard on the table, causing his chopsticks to leap right off the table.

Yong Soo went red and mumbled something about not meaning to offend. An awkward silence reigned for several minutes as Yao glared at a withering Yong Soo, spewing virtual flames of fury. Kiku and Xiang eyed each other anxiously, wondering what sort of demon had possessed their lovely, talented, sweet-tempered big brother to not only erupt like Mount Eyjafjallajökull but cook like an English man.

Eventually, Xiang ventured tentatively, "Da Ge, are you having problems with your boyfriend?"

Three bewildered faces stared back at Xiang's serene one.

"Well," Xiang explained, "I saw you hitting him the whole time even after he kissed you, so I assume..."

"What! Aniki has a boyfriend? Since when? Who is it? Nobody told me anything!" Yong Soo grabbed Yao's shoulders and shook hard.

"It's this really huge Caucasian guy who's one head taller than Da Ge and about twice as wide, probably Russian by the looks of his nose..."

"Wow! Yao-nii likes big guys! I never knew that! In fact, I didn't even know you like guys," Kiku gasped.

"Aiyaaaa! I do not have a boyfriend, you idiots!" Yao smacked Yong Soo's forehead, making him release his hands from his shoulders.

"But my entire class saw you..."

Xiang clammed up upon seeing Yao's murderous glare.

"It's... it's just that some kids don't even get to experience the joy of having their loved ones cook for them. I just think that you should be grateful for what you have instead of complaining about this and that aru..." Yao's voice wobbled.

Poor poor Ivan. Yao's heart ached at the thought of a young Ivan being sent off to a foreign boarding school all by his lonesome. How many years had he not eaten home-cooked food? No child deserved such treatment from his parents, especially such a sweet and adorable, albeit perverted, boy. Ivan had essentially nothing to do with him, but now that he knew what Ivan's problem was, it seemed that Ivan's fate rested on his shoulders. After all, even the Dean and the professors seemed to have written him off as a lost cause. If Yao did not help him, who would? Yes, he, Wang Yao, everyone's big brother, would rescue Ivan from his darkness, no matter how difficult it would be.

"Ehhh... Aniki, are you actually crying?" Yong Soo flapped his hands in panic as a tear rolled down Yao's cheek.

"I'm sorry Da Ge! I'll eat everything!" Xiang grabbed the plate of shrimp dumplings and started wolfing down its contents at top speed.

"Hey don't eat that all by yourself da-ze~! Leave some for me!"

"Ano... it's rude to eat right off the plate..."

"Silly boys, don't eat so fast! You'll get hiccups!" Yao said reproachfully, but a smile replaced the melancholy on his face. Some day, he hoped Ivan could enjoy the same sort of family warmth as he did.

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: Tsk... no Rochu action again.

Yao: On the other hand, I rather like this chapter. It's a nice break from your roving paws. Plus I get to be with my siblings. H-chan realized that she likes the interaction among the Asian siblings, so she has decided to give them a bigger role aru. Hopefully they'll rescue me from your daily molestation.

Ivan: Yao likes your siblings more than me da? ( ; J ; )

Yao: Of course aru.

Ivan: Then, I shall just have to *beep-!* you until you only have me in your mind! Kolkolkolkol~!

Yao: Hey, what are you doing! Why are you unbuttoning my shirt? Nooooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	12. Ivan Gets Some Love Advice

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Ivan Gets Some Love Advice**

"Ivan Braginski!"

Feliks Łukasiewicz stood in the middle of the student dormitory corridor, arms akimbo, glaring at the Russian who was making his way back to his own dormitory room. Toris skulked behind Feliks, looking terrified.

"So, you finally have the guts to show your big nose!" Feliks marched towards Ivan and jabbed him hard in his chest with a finger.

"Don't, Feliks!" Toris squeaked as he grabbed Feliks' hand and shoved it downwards.

"So like, how dare you crack my poor Liet-chan's head with your rotten water pipe, tie him up and leave him for dead? Why, my poor Liet-chan would have like died from starvation if I hadn't like had the sense to go looking in Eduard's room to find him like all trussed up and gagged like a turkey! You have some nerve!" Feliks raised his other free hand to continue assaulting Ivan's chest.

"Give it a rest, Feliks!" Toris pleaded.

"Da~! I forgot I left you three behind before I went for detention today~ How fortunate that Feliks rescued you da~ Kolkolkolkol~"

"Oh no, we were very comfortable actually and didn't need rescuing at all, Ivan! Feliks just likes exaggerating. Come on Feliks, let's go..." Toris tried to pull Feliks away. Feliks was however, tougher and more headstrong than his feminine looks suggested.

"Listen up! Nobody like, you know, bullies my man and gets away with it! I hereby challenge you to a fight! If I kick your ass, which I so totally will, you will leave my Liet-chan alone from now on, do you hear me?"

"Feliks! I have a stomachache! Won't you get me some medicine?" Toris cried in a desperate attempt to stop Feliks from playing with fire.

"So, like go see the doctor, duh! I'm not your first aid kit!" Feliks retorted.

Ivan contemplated Feliks' proposal. It seemed like an attractive option to respond to his challenge. After all, Ivan had a hundred percent victory record against the Pole, and with luck, he would wind up with another round of detention with Yao. But at the moment, there were more pressing issues at hand.

"Say, Feliks, you and Toris are in love with each other da?"

"Duh! We're like totally head over heels in love with each other! We've even like slept..."

Toris clamped his hand over Feliks' mouth. "That's right, Ivan," he confirmed with a red face.

"Can you tell me how I can make this person I fell in love with love me back?" Ivan asked eagerly.

Feliks stopped poking Ivan's chest. "What? Did I like hear you right? You, Ivan Braginski, in love? So like, who's this unlucky person?"

Toris elbowed Feliks in the rib. "Is it Wang Yao?"

Ivan nodded.

"That's ridi... I mean, amazing! Are you sure you're in love and not in lust?" Toris exclaimed. He knew Ivan was obsessed with Yao, but he did not think that aggressive, mean and unsympathetic Ivan knew anything about being in love.

Toris immediately regretted voicing his doubts when Ivan responded tearfully with his water pipe held high, "Why does everyone doubt my love?"

"Woah! Put that down! I believe you! Really I do!" Toris said frantically. Thankfully, Ivan decided to let the matter rest and stowed the water pipe back inside his coat.

"Wang Yao... That's like the Chinese dude with the long hair who like totally looks like a chick right?" Feliks mused.

Toris snorted. How rich of Feliks to say that when he himself not only looked feminine, but spoke like a girl and dressed like one.

"Da~! That's the one! He's cute, isn't he?" Ivan beamed proudly.

"A bit on the short side, but not bad-looking I suppose," Feliks scratched his chin thoughtfully. "But he's like a student councilor right? So like what chance would a delinquent like you ever have with him?"

"Feliks!" Toris was on the verge of tears.

"You really think so? Kolkolkolkol~" Out came the water pipe again.

"Like, duh! This is like total common sense right? He's like enforcing the school rules, and you're like totally making his life difficult by breaking them! Why, I'd like totally hate you if I were him!" Feliks declared bluntly.

"You really think so?" Ivan's face fell. No 'Kolkolkolkol' this time, Toris, noted, relieved.

"Duh! Every hour of detention you spend with him is like one hour of his free time gone. Every hour of detention with him that you weasel out of is like one black mark on his record. You know what? You should like totally stop using your water pipe on my Liet-chan or anyone else for that matter. If you quit acting like the biggest jerk evar, maybe you will like, you know, actually stand a chance to win his heart."

"Feliks' words are very true! Do take his advice," Toris nodded fervently. Perhaps the opportunity of a lifetime to free himself from Ivan's tyranny had finally presented itself!

"I know right? I'm like the Biggest. Genius. Evar!" Feliks gushed.

Ivan looked down at his precious water pipe. Was it really so abominable? He did not quite understand what Feliks meant by him acting like the 'biggest jerk evar', but if keeping the water pipe away meant that his darling Yao would have an easier time and like him more for it, then he would do it without question.

"Da~ Thank you Feliks and Toris for the advice!" Ivan smiled sincerely.

"A pleasure!" Toris grinned. For once, a confrontation with Ivan did not meet with a bloody end. He would thank Feliks with that fifty-thousand yen designer school girl outfit from Akihabara later.

"And Feliks, your chest massage was very comfortable~ So here's my reward for you~"

Smacking Toris hard on the chest with his water pipe, Ivan walked away whistling, leaving a furious Feliks freaking out over a hyperventilating Toris.

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: No Rochu again! *rage*

Yao: The author is really biding her time aru.

Ivan: I'll go and wake her up with my water pipe. Kolkolkolkol~!

Yao: Er... wait! If you use your water pipe on her, this story won't even continue. She hasn't paid me yet aru!

Ivan: Da~! All right, on account of you, I'll spare her for now.

Yao: For now, let's concentrate on the goodness of this chapter. Feliks' appearance.

Ivan: What's so great about that?

Feliks: Well, I'm like the hottest. chick. evar. duh! Do you like, have a problem with that?

Ivan & Yao: Where the hell did you come from?

Feliks: My sharp ears heard you worshiping my ingenuity. I totally made waves with my appearance, yes? Did you like, fall in love with my cute accent?

Ivan: Cute? More like laughable.

Feliks: Look here, big nose, I'm like wearing my best school girl uniform today so I'm so totally not gonna pick a fight with you for now. Watch out, I'll kick your ass later. Like totes. So anyway, like I was saying, my cute accent. The author has actually never like read any fics featuring the wonderful me or remembered how I was like in the scanlations - shame on her! - so if you like think my dialogue is not valley girl enough, please teach her the ways of the perfect valley girl. And on the topic of perfect valley girl, don't cha think this outfit is so cute and perfect and like so totally blah blah blah...

Yao: Err let's get out of here...

Ivan: See you in the next chapter!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	13. Elizaveta's Nosebleed of the Century

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Elizaveta's Nosebleed of the Century**

Ivan wished he had been quick-witted enough to ask Yao for his phone number.

It was already Friday, four days since his detention with Yao, and he missed Yao badly. He longed to ask Yao out for a date, but he did not know how to contact him. He loitered around the Asian quarters whenever he did not go for lessons, which meant virtually entire days, but to no avail. He could not enter the Asian dormitory as unauthorized entry was disallowed to students who did not live in the dormitory building, except for student councilors who had access to all the dormitory buildings. He considered breaking in, but for the first time in his life, Ivan was afraid of blatantly breaking the school rules for fear of being expelled. If he got expelled, he would never see his angel again.

Ivan had also tried calling up the Student Council Room and visiting it every day. However, since Tuesday morning, someone, presumably Arthur, had not only stuck pictures of disturbing-looking symbols all over the room door but also placed a large pot of incense in front of it. The stench issuing from it was so pungent that nobody could go within ten feet of it without choking. Ivan had a nagging feeling that it was related to his sudden intrusion from under the table on Monday. Needless to say, the Student Council announced that they would terminate all services and stop going to the room until the smell cleared out.

Ivan visited the Administration building for the umpteenth time that day, hoping against hope that the smell had cleared out. A strong whiff of sulfur told him that he had made another wasted trip. Ivan was disappointed that Yao had become so elusive. Didn't Yao say he cared about him? Was that an empty promise? Who knew, Yao might even be avoiding him on purpose. At that frustrating thought, Ivan hung his head miserably and stomped away.

"Aiya watch out!"

THUNK!

Yao's warning came too late, as Ivan fell down on his back, reeling from the pressure of the rock-hard pillar against his head.

"Why can't you look ahead when you walk? Are you all right aru?" Yao chided. He squatted down beside Ivan and touched his forehead to examine the rapidly reddening bruise.

Upon seeing his angel, Ivan burst out, "Yao~! I thought I'd never see you again!"

He grabbed Yao's arm and pulled him towards himself, causing Yao to fall right on top of him. Searing desire pent-up in his heart from the past four days gushed out like water from behind a collapsing dam. Rolling over and pinning Yao below him, he took the smaller man's lips in his own. After a lengthy possessive kiss, Ivan detached his lips unwillingly from Yao.

"Yao~ I missed you so much!" Ivan cried. He cupped Yao's beetroot-red face in his palms and ran his eyes lovingly over every single facial detail of his beloved's. Beautiful... so beautiful... even if those usually gentle eyes were glowing somewhat menacingly right now. He knew it was a sure sign that Yao was mad, but he did not care. He wanted Yao right there and there. He would accept whatever punishment Yao meted out to him later. Ignoring Yao's frantic protests and death threats, he lowered his head and lovingly licked the drool off the edge of Yao's mouth.

"KYAAAAAAAA~~~~~~~"

A high-pitched girly scream pierced through the tranquil afternoon. Well, as tranquil as it could have been without Yao's death threats. Ivan and Yao turned their heads in unison to see Roderich Edelstein just feet away, on his knees, hoisting a swooning woman into his arms. Yao recognized Roderich as a senior year student who gave excellent piano recitals, but the woman's presence surprised him, for Hetalia Gakuen was an all-boys college and outsiders were generally not permitted to enter.

"Oh my God! Elizaveta! Are you all right? Talk to me! Say something!" Roderich cried. The woman called Elizaveta was bleeding so profusely from her nose that the front of her dress was soaked entirely in blood, while her face had turned deathly white.

Yao shoved Ivan off him, stood up on shaky feet and ran helter-skelter towards the couple.

"What happened to her nose? Did she knock it against something?" Yao asked.

"I don't know... I mean... it started off as one of her regular nosebleeds. Then before I knew it, she became a human hosepipe," Roderich said anxiously.

"Hmm... might have burst a blood vessel," Yao said thoughtfully.

Taking control of the chaotic situation, he commanded, "Roderich, help her to sit up! Make sure her head is leaning slightly forward and pinch her nose firmly. Miss, breathe through your mouth and try to stay calm. Ivan, call an ambulance! I'm going to get a cold compress from the first-aid room!"

With that, he sprinted to the first-aid room as fast as his legs would take him.

* * *

Five minutes later, Yao came running back to the front of the Administration building, huffing and puffing with a cold compress in one hand and a stitch down his side. He was greeted by the strange sight of Elizaveta leaning back against Roderich's arm and chatting cordially with Ivan, or so he assumed without hearing their conversation, for Ivan was smiling exceptionally brightly while Elizaveta's previously deathly white cheeks had now developed a slight pink tint. Her dress was still drenched in blood, but she was no longer bleeding. Roderich, oddly enough, looked as though he wanted to be anywhere else but next to her.

"You're all right already aru? Do you still need to go to the hospital?" Yao knelt down beside Ivan.

Elizaveta's eyes lit up instantly.

"You're Wang Yao, aren't you? I was just telling Ivan here what a kyyyuuute couple you both make!" Elizaveta reached out a hand each to Ivan and Yao and pinched their cheeks playfully.

Ivan continued to beam unflinchingly, but a flustered Yao batted her hand away angrily.

"Aiya how rude! Besides, we're not a couple aru!" Yao exclaimed, all sympathy for her vanquished.

"Awww... you're turning red! That is soooo uke! How adorable!" Elizaveta shrieked.

"Elizaveta, that's not very nice!" Roderich scolded. Yao turned even redder. Ivan looked simply radiant.

Turning to Yao, Roderich explained apologetically, "This is my fiancée Elizaveta Héderváry. She's here to visit me today. She gets overly excited when she sees men er... behaving intimately together, so do forgive her."

"And how glad I am! If I hadn't come today, I would have missed witnessing such a touching display of passion! I knew I made the right decision when I made you enroll here, honey!" Elizaveta prattled.

"What? We were not... we have not... you've got the wrong idea aru!" Yao spluttered in indignation.

"Don't be embarrassed, Wang Yao. A lot of ukes are like you, shy and in denial about their submissive role in the relationship. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with being the uke! If there are no ukes, there would be no semes. And if there are no ukes and semes, there would be no nosebleed-worthy Yaoi. Don't you agree?" Elizaveta said sagely.

Roderich looked away and tried to pretend that he was not part of this bizarre conversation. Ivan nodded gaily, "Da~!"

"Nosebleed-worthy what?" Yao asked weakly.

"Yaoi, dear. It just means boy's love... but OH! I just realized that your name Yao and the first letter of Ivan's name 'I' forms the word Yaoi! Ohohohoho~ You lovely boys are totally made for each other!" Elizaveta chuckled so hard that drops of blood began trickling out of her nostrils again.

"Elizaveta, I think I'd better take you to the doctor, you're bleeding again," Roderich helped Elizaveta to her feet. Yao was clenching his fists so tightly that Roderich felt he ought to remove his source of anger before he got aggressive.

"Right, oh dear, my nose hasn't bled so much in ages. I suppose I should get going. Remember to tell your lover about the film project. See you again, my cute Yao-I couple!" Elizaveta gave Yao and Ivan each a pinch on their cheeks again, and bounded off, Roderich urging her to walk faster all the way.

"What a lovely lady da?" Ivan turned to Yao after waving a hearty goodbye to his new best friend.

To his surprise, Yao was seated in a lotus position on the floor, eyes closed and muttering to himself fervently.

"Yao~ are you all right?"

Yao ignored him. Unfazed, Ivan prattled on.

"Elizaveta wants us to help her with her final year film project. The theme is Masculine Love. She just wants a kissing scene from us, as hot as just now's. You will agree da?" Ivan chirped happily.

Yao scrunched up his eyes tighter, but otherwise contributed no further reaction.

"Yao~ Don't ignore me~" Ivan reached forward and touched his cheek.

"IVAN BRAGINSKI!" Yao shouted so loudly that Ivan scuttled away with his fingers in his ears.

"Enough! I've had enough of this aru!" Yao stomped around, flailing his arms wildly.

"What did I do now?" Ivan whimpered from behind a pillar.

Yao struggled to find words to appropriately explain his anger. Eventually, he blurted out, "I'm not a blow up doll that you can touch and kiss as you please!" He cringed, regretting his usage of such a sleazy metaphor.

At the worst timing possible, a group of European students, as though summoned by a curse, emerged from nowhere in front of the usually deserted Administration building.

"Doitsu doitsu~ What's a blow up doll?"

"Shush! Feliciano!"

"Why, Potato Bastard? Scared that my poor little brother will find out that you've got a blow up doll modeled after him in your closet?"

"Ve~ you have a blow up doll of me?"

"Shut up, Lovino! I do not own such a filthy thing!"

"Sniff~ I'm filthy?"

"No, Feliciano! I do not have a blow up doll of you!"

"Yes, Potato Bastard, you do!"

"No, Lovino, I do not!"

"Oh please, if anyone's to make a blow up doll, it should be of me, because I'm so awesome!"

"Doitsu~ If I take a bath, will you make a blow up doll of me?"

"Haha you're so cute! Should oresama tell you what a blow up doll is?"

"Ve~?"

"Shut up, Gilbert! Don't corrupt him!"

"Like you haven't already, Potato Bastard!"

"Gilbert-niichan~ What should I do to make Doitsu want a blow up doll of me?"

"For the love of God, I do not have a blow up doll or want any for that matter! Shut up about it already!"

"Waaaah! Doitsu hates me! Waaaah!"

Amidst the squabbling, crying, wolf whistling and sidelong dirty glares from Ludwig, Yao sank to the ground in shame, all anger forgotten. He remained with his face in his palms, long after the group had disappeared from his sight.

"Yao~ don't be mad~ I won't treat you like a blow up doll if you don't want me to. Incidentally, what's that?" Ivan cocked his head curiously.

"Nah... forget what I said aru..." Yao looked up tiredly at Ivan's innocently puzzled face. Ivan sure as hell did not need lessons on sex toys when he was already such a pervert.

"I skipped my lessons to look for you all over the school for the past days! Where did you go? Were you avoiding me?" Ivan whined.

"Aiya! How could you skip lessons as and when you like? You go to school to receive an education, not to have fun aru! What would your parents say if they knew you were squandering their hard-earned money over such trivialities?" Brotherly (motherly?) instincts overtaking his fury, Yao lost no time in lecturing him.

"My parents wouldn't care~ Papa's in prison while Mama's in Ukraine~ They wouldn't even know if I left school~"

Yao gasped in alarm as tears started dancing in the violet eyes.

"I'm sorry aru! Don't cry!" Yao ruffled Ivan's hair.

"Uwaaaah~!"

Good heavens, Ivan's bawling could give Feliciano a run for his money, Yao flinched.

"Want a hug?" Yao opened his arms hesitantly. He hated carrying out affectionate acts like hugging in public, but he figured it was the only way to comfort Ivan. Besides, Ivan did look kind of adorable in a pitiful way.

Ivan dived in, sniveling noisily.

"There, there," Yao patted Ivan's broad back reassuringly. "I'm sure your parents do care for you or they wouldn't be giving you an education aru. Besides, there are other people who care for you too."

"Like myself aru," Yao added as an afterthought when Ivan showed no signs of letting up.

"In that case, why were you avoiding me?" Ivan looked at Yao out of weepy eyes.

"Aiyaaa I wasn't avoiding you! I had to meet my supervisor today so I've been holing up in my room, rushing my draft for my thesis aru. I haven't been around school because I don't have lessons to attend and I've been asking Xiang to buy me takeaways aru."

"Sniff~! I've been dying to ask you out for a date. You'll agree da?" Ivan asked mournfully.

"Of course I will aru," Yao agreed without a second thought. With Ivan looking so distressed, it would only be inhumane to turn down such a simple...

Hang on, did he say 'date'?

Yao rubbed his temples, wondering what he had gotten himself into, as Ivan whooped loudly, jumped up and down and punched the air ecstatically to celebrate his success.

"What a big baby." In spite of an imminent headache, Yao could not help letting a soft chuckle escape his lips.

**To be continued...**

* * *

**Free Talk:**

Ivan: Yay! I finally scored a date with Yao! Go me!

Elizaveta: *holding up pom-poms and chanting to the YMCA cheer* Y-A-O-I! Y-A-O-I!

Yao: That's enough! You've already humiliated me. Are you not satisfied aru?

Elizaveta: How have I humiliated you? Men's romance is a gorgeous thing that should be glorified! You should be honoured that I lost so much blood over you! Let me guess, you're upset that I revealed your little secret about being the bottom in your relationship?

Ivan: I bet he totally is da~!

Elizaveta: My dear, remember what I said about the importance of ukes? Without ukes, there would be no semes and without semes there would be no beautiful men's romance...

Yao: Ok that's enough aru. Please let's just talk about this chapter. Which has nothing to do with Yaoi by the way, so kindly leave it out.

Elizaveta: Tchah! Spoilsport!

Ivan: Initially, this story was supposed to include only male characters since Gakuen Hetalia is an all-boys school, but since Eliza is the biggest Yaoi fangirl around, H-chan felt it would be unfair to leave her out of the fun.

Elizaveta: Luckily she did. Or I'll steal her Rochu doujinshi collection.

Yao: I hope you enjoyed the background noise. All thanks to H-chan's sudden desire to include a perverted joke, my reputation as a prude has gone down the drain.

Ivan: Don't worry, I still think of you as a prude da~ The only day I'll stop thinking of you as a prude is when you willingly ask me to *beep-!* you while you're not under the control of alcohol or blackmail. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: I'll be happy to remain a prude all my life then.

Ivan: Then I guess I'll have fun all my life making a prude like you submit to my *beep-!* Kolkolkolkol~ *Pounce*

Yao: Nooooo aru!

Elizaveta: Ooh OMG hot hot hot! *clicks away furiously*

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	14. A Hot Pot Full of Spicy Love

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 14: A Hot Pot Full of Spicy Love**

Ivan stood in front of the full-length wall mirror in Feliks' dormitory room, admiring his suave appearance from all angles. For his dinner date with Yao, Ivan had dressed himself up in his smartest pearl-grey suit, which complemented his silvery blonde hair perfectly. He adjusted his tie - a silk maroon one with faint diagonal stripes, and fussed with his hair, on which he had carefully applied styling cream to make the ends of his hair curl up softly. He beamed into the mirror, revealing pearly whites, the consequence of a quick visit to the school dentist. He was the picture of perfection, if he could say so himself. Even the bruise he had incurred on his forehead following this morning's run-in with a pillar was safely out of sight, courtesy of Feliks' concealer.

"I don't believe this! I so totally don't believe this!" Feliks seethed as he glared at Ivan's back from his bed.

"Yes. Five hours just to decide on an inner shirt, choose between two suits and pick a tie. I didn't think anyone could have broken your record for time taken to dress up," Toris grumbled from Feliks' side.

"I know right? This is totally abominable! Like how does anyone ever put up with such appalling behaviour?"

"Lots of patience and love I guess," Toris snorted, thinking of himself.

"How do I look?" Ivan addressed his bored spectators for the umpteenth time.

"You look great," Toris replied mechanically for the umpteenth time.

"Yeah, like totes," Feliks nodded. He could not wait for the Russian to leave his room so that he too, could get changed for his own date with Toris. It had been intriguing, even amusing, to watch Ivan fuss over his appearance like a vain pot, but it sure got tiresome after a few hours, especially when, unsatisfied with his own massive collection of ties, Ivan had gone on to take Feliks' and Toris' ties. Furthermore, he had dumped each item of clothing unceremoniously in all corners of Feliks' room such that the originally cramped but neat square of space now resembled a pigsty.

"But maroon doesn't bring out the violet in my beautiful eyes," Ivan pouted.

"How about Feliks' lavender one?" Toris suggested tiredly.

"No way!" Feliks protested. "That's like my favourite tie!"

"But it has little hearts all over it~!" Ivan cringed.

"Yes, cute, isn't it?" Feliks supplied the age-old excuse for every gaudy item he owned. "I'm so not lending it to you! Knowing you, I'll never like see it ever again!"

Ivan blinked. "I want to look hot for a date, not cute. Looking cute is for girls." An image of Yao, hair done up in two side pony tails, and donning a cute little red cheongsam suddenly invaded his mind. Yao smiled up at him oh-so-cutely with mesmerized amber eyes, "Aiyaa Ivan~ you look so sexy aru~"

"What are you talking about?" Feliks snapped, interrupting Ivan's fantasy. "My tie is totally hawt!"

"It is the perfect colour, but it's so tacky~"

"Why how dare you-!"

"Hush! I thought you didn't want to lend him your tie?" Toris whispered warningly.

Feliks gritted his teeth. "Fine! If you think it's tacky, don't wear it. Duh!"

Ivan tossed the lavender tie aside and pulled out another tie from his heap of clothing.

"Um... Ivan, it's 6.30pm," Toris said.

"Da?"

"You said your date was at 6pm."

Cursing loudly, Ivan ran for the door, forgetting even the bouquet of sunflowers he had bought for Yao.

* * *

Yao stood at the entrance to the cafeteria at the Asian quarters, glaring at his wrist watch. In the past forty-five minutes that he had spent waiting for his date, his stomach had emitted a few impatient growls. The nerve of Ivan to be so late when he was the one who asked him out, ever so eagerly too!

"Yao-sempai," a junior that Yao knew by sight approached him timidly. Yao sighed, knowing what this young man wanted from his tell-tale blushing face. This had to be the fifth occurrence since he had started standing here.

"Yes aru?" Yao asked kindly.

"Would you... would you like to join me for dinner?" Junior Number 5 stuttered.

"Sorry aru, but I'm already waiting for someone else," came the well rehearsed answer.

"But you've been waiting for nearly an hour. Maybe your friend isn't coming?" Junior Number 5 persisted.

Yao stared at him, appalled. Had this person been observing him for the past forty-five minutes? As if in quiet affirmation of his assumption, the young man blushed furiously and looked down, but made no sign of wanting to leave.

A for-once welcome disruption arrived in the form of Ivan Braginski, saving Yao from his predicament.

"Yao is my boyfriend so clear off if you want your limbs intact! Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan loomed menacingly over the petite Asian boy. Ivan struck such an intimidating figure with his build and outfit that the boy reflexively let out a squeak and ran away.

Turning round to meet Yao's stricken face, Ivan put on his saddest puppy eyes in hopes of reducing whatever scolding Yao would mete out to him for being late, referring to him as his boyfriend and threatening his junior all in one breath.

"Ivan Braginski."

"Da..."

"Why, in the name of heaven, are you wearing a formal suit to the school cafeteria aru?" Yao asked incredulously.

"Eh? Because this is my special date with Yao da? I took great pains to dress up, that's why I was late~ But I ran here as fast as I could. I even forgot my bouquet of sunflowers for you," Ivan said sadly.

"But still, there's something called a dress code," Yao said weakly. He was suddenly very self-conscious of his comparatively sloppy attire - a Hello Kitty sweatshirt, track shorts and flip-flops. He had even left his hair untied since he wanted to let it dry after a shower. He was immensely relieved that Ivan had not brought his present, because it had not occurred to him to get anything for Ivan.

"You don't think I look good? I spent about five hours dressing up for you," Ivan bleated, which made Yao feel more wretched than ever.

"Aiya! Of course not! I think you look amazing," Yao paused and blushed. Although he meant it from the bottom of his heart, he had never paid such a compliment to anyone, and it made him feel awkward. "I... I didn't realize you were going to put in so much effort aru. I'll go get changed all right? I won't take long. I might have a suit lying around somewhere..."

"But you look great! There's nothing wrong with what you're wearing," Ivan said candidly. While Yao had turned up looking quite the contrary from his mirage, Ivan felt that those thigh-baring little shorts that revealed Yao's smooth, slender legs more than made up for the absence of a cute little cheongsam. Besides, who needed cute twin tails when one had sexy long, flowing hair?

"Of course there's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing aru! But you're so overdressed that we're going to look very strange walking together aru! I thought I made it very clear that we were going to have dinner at the school cafeteria!" Yao cried. Already, many pairs of curious eyes were staring at them.

"Ah ha~! Is Yao afraid that we don't look like a couple? If we hold hands, we'll even look like husband and wife da?" Ivan took Yao's small hand in his large one.

"Aiya! You're impossible to communicate with!" Yao tried to pull his hand out of Ivan's grip, but he was no match for the larger man. They made their way across the cafeteria towards the food stores, arm wrestling all the way. Numerous pairs of watchful eyes fastened themselves to Ivan's strange attire, and then to his equally strange companion who was making hissing noises and sporting a constipated expression on his beetroot face.

Ivan finally released his hand when they reached the head of the queue in front of a Chinese cuisine store.

"要吃什么？"  
[Translation: What do you want to eat?]

Yao looked thoughtfully at the menu, spoilt for choice.

"Ne ne~ Yao, what's that? It looks good!" Ivan pointed to a small heart-shaped cardboard standee on the counter which featured two portions of Sichuan numb and spicy hot pot. Written above the photograph was "买一送一！四川麻辣火锅情人套餐！吃了爱情一样火辣辣！"

[Translation: One for one! Sichuan Numb and Spicy Hotpot lover's set! Your romance will become equally fiery-hot!]

Yao slapped his forehead in exasperation. What the hell was wrong with this school? Not only was it not Valentine's Day where blatant display of affection was at least excusable, but this was an all-boy's school!

Spotting Ivan's roving hand on Yao's shoulder, the elderly cook smiled indulgently at him, "Buy one, get one free. Sichuan Mala hot pot lover set. Very nice. One for you, one for him. Your love become hot and spicy. Ok?"

"Da~" Ivan eagerly stuffed payment into the old lady's hand.

"Wait! We're not-" Yao began, but the old lady had already headed to the back kitchen.

"My first time eating Chinese food~ I'm so excited," Ivan rubbed his hands gleefully.

"I hope the spice kills you!" Yao muttered viciously.

Minutes later, the old lady returned with two large steaming portions of Sichuan Mala hot pot and two cups of tea.

"请慢用！祝你们永浴爱 河！Love love forever!" She balled her fists and nodded both thumbs at each other.

[Translation: Enjoy your meal! May your love be everlasting!]

"Xie xie!" Ivan saluted, while Yao suppressed an urge to strangle the wrinkled neck.

"Hurry up, Ivan, I'm hungry aru!" Yao hastened, eager to get away from all the blatant spectators staring at them hungrily from the queue.

They headed outside the enclosed cafeteria towards the attached side garden where there were pavilions for students to eat or study in peace away from the noisy cafeteria. Yao usually liked eating with his cousins and juniors in the cafeteria, but today, he just wanted to be away from the crowd. As they entered a pavilion well shaded by palm trees, Yao noted with a pang that this was a couple's favourite hang out due to the privacy it afforded. He was in a lover's hang out, sharing a lover's set meal with Ivan. Not quite his idea of a dinner date.

They set their trays down on the circular stone table in the middle of the pavilion and sat across each other on stone stools. Ivan took a deep breath to inhale the fragrance of his dinner. Then he began coughing profusely.

"This smells weird!" Ivan spluttered, eyes tearing as the spicy fragrance entered his throat.

"You chose it yourself," Yao smirked.

Ivan swallowed hard. Under normal circumstances, he would have ditched the hot pot and gone to get something else. But this was part of a lover's set that promised 'hot and spicy' love. He feared he would curse their relationship by spurning it. He picked up his spoon tentatively.

"Aniki! Your breasts are mine!" Yong Soo hurtled into the pavilion, causing Ivan to drop his spoon in shock.

"Yong-Ge! Don't do such things in front of Da Ge's boyfriend!" Xiang hurtled on top of Yong Soo. Yong Soo crashed onto the floor, while Xiang crashed on top of Yong Soo.

"I'm so sorry, Yao-nii, Braginski-san! I tried to stop them but they insisted on tailing you," Kiku bowed apologetically to a baffled Yao and Ivan.

"Excuse me but wasn't it you who said it was an excellent idea and volunteered to be the cameraman da-ze!"

"Tailing us? Cameraman? What's going on aru!" Yao cried.

"I didn't want to tail Da Ge! It was Yong-Ge's idea!" Xiang crawled to his feet, massaging his aching jaw.

"That's right, spying originated from Korea da-ze!" Yong Soo proclaimed unabashedly. His run-in with the stone-hard floor seemed to have little impact on his thick skin as he stood up and rubbed his chest with little fuss.

"In that case, you should know very well that spying is supposed to be secret!" a rare sign of frustration crossed Kiku's face.

"I don't like the way you do it da-ze! It's sneaky! Honesty originated from Korea da-ze!"

"But how am I going to take pictures like this?"

"We didn't come here to take pictures. We came here to find out more about Da Ge's boyfriend."

"Exactly. So what better way to do so than taking pictures?"

"I fail to understand how taking pictures of Da Ge and his boyfriend cosying up is going to help us learn more about him."

"Oh don't be so naive, Xiang. Kiku-nii just wants pictures for his collection da-ze!"

"Enough aru!" Yao shouted. "You should be ashamed of yourselves! What happened to your moral values?"

"Don't scold them, Yao~! I think your brothers are very cute~! I wish I had siblings like these!" Ivan flashed a beatific smile all round to match his wide, animated violet eyes. Kiku squeeed inwardly.

_So moe! No wonder Yao-nii likes this boy! Cuteness abound, he's definitely his cup of tea!_

"I'm not aniki's brother da-ze! But as aniki's bestest friend and favourite cousin, I have every right to know what kind of person his boyfriend is da-ze!" Yong Soo plonked himself on the stool next to Yao.

"Aiya! Ivan isn't my boyfriend and you're neither my bestest friend nor my favourite cousin aru! Will you stop misleading Xiang aru!"

"I'm old enough to understand these matters myself, Da Ge. I just want to make sure that my future brother-in-law is a reliable man," Xiang said stoically as he sat on Yao's other side.

"Aiyaaaa~ What nonsense are you spouting, Xiang!"

"Braginski-san, I hope you don't mind us joining you then. We have some questions for you," Kiku took the remaining seat between Ivan and Xiang.

"I'd be glad to answer them~ and please call me Ivan~ We're a family after all~ " Ivan said pleasantly.

"We'll see about that. Let the interrogation begin da-ze!" Yong Soo declared.

"Ivan Braginski is not my boyfriend aru!"

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: Wow I'm acting like a high school girl on a first date.

Yao: Well technically it is your first date, so it makes sense aru. This chapter was actually supposed to be about the date itself, but the idea of Ivan preparing for his date suddenly popped into her mind and she badly wanted to write it, hence the date itself has to be pushed backwards to the next chapter.

Ivan: H-chan is very fond of doing crap like this.

Yao: She sure is. Though I must say, I'm personally not looking forward to the date aru.

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ Why? Because your brothers are here? Don't worry, I'll get rid of the pests so we can have our romantic rendezvous in peace~

Yao: That's precisely what I'm worried about aru.

Ivan: Anyone who interrupts my precious date with my little sunflower deserves to be skinned alive da~ Tune in to the next chapter to see how artfully it's done. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Noooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	15. Never Ask the Devil

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Never Ask the Devil**

Yao tucked into his Sichuan Mala Hotpot, refusing to participate in the ludicrous 'interrogation' that was occurring in front of him. He had half-hoped that Ivan would chase the self-proclaimed interrogators away, but far from being upset that his special date had been ruined, Ivan looked strangely delighted. He could not help suspecting that Ivan had some ploy up this sleeve that involved his water pipe. Yet Ivan was at the moment, listening so intently to Kiku's self-introduction that Yao began feeling guilty all over again for casting doubt on the poor boy's character. Perhaps all Ivan really craved for was company.

"Of course I'll be kind to you, but only if you're kind to me~" Ivan responded after Kiku had explained that 'yoroshiku onegaishimasu', a set-phrase that Japanese people used to introduce themselves to new acquaintances, translated literally to 'please treat me kindly'.

"What happens if they're not kind to you?" Yong Soo asked curiously.

"Then, I simply return the favour. Kolkolkolkol~"

The temperature within the pavilion grew significantly colder as the interrogators felt their hairs stand on end. Yao, insulated by the warmth from his hotpot, continued eating nonchalantly.

"This boy is so cute, yet his laughter strikes fear in me. Could he be exhibiting the legendary yandere character trait?" Kiku thought, half excited, half terrified.

"Must protect Da Ge," Xiang inched closer to Yao.

Only the immensely dense Yong Soo brushed off the sudden temperature drop as a natural phenomenon. "Strange weather huh? It's so cold suddenly."

He stood up, folded his arms across his chest cockily and began his arrogant self-introduction, "I'm Im Yong Soo from Korea, the land that everything originates from da-ze!"

"How rude!" Kiku grimaced.

"I speak the truth da-ze!"

"How can this be when everything belongs to Mother Russia da?" Ivan asked sweetly.

"He's just as rude!" Kiku thought.

"You are wrong! Russia belongs to Korea, and so do Japan and China da-ze!" Yong Soo insisted brazenly.

Three sympathetic pairs of eyes flitted to the Korean. His cousins had gone through this routine far too often to get mad at him.

"Don't mind his nonsense, Ivan! He must have had too much _soju_ just now," Kiku said apologetically. Ivan was still smiling, but being able to rightly read the atmosphere in any room, Kiku could decipher the meaning behind most facial expressions, no matter how subtle. Right now, Ivan's smile revealed something involving Yong Soo and an abandoned well.

"I did not da-ze! Incidentally, alcohol originates from Korea da-ze!" Yong Soo declared, further strengthening the notion that he might in fact be alcohol-intoxicated.

"Not Vodka," Ivan said serenely.

"Vodka originates from Korea da-ze!"

"It does not."

"Does too!"

"Does not."

"Does too!"

Kiku and Xiang swiveled their heads from right to left, following the progress of the degenerating argument, unsure of whose victory to wish for. Until Yao slammed down his spoon and broke the stalemate.

"Shut up aru! Alcohol is banned on campus, and so is any discussion about it. Let me eat my dinner in peace!"

"It's not banned in the European campus," Ivan piped up. "Gilbert throws noisy block parties with endless flows of beer all the time."

"Really? Where does he get the beer from?" Yao demanded, eager to penalize the rule breaker.

"You'll have to ask someone else~ He always invites everyone except me," Ivan's eyes filled with melancholy.

"I wonder why," Yong Soo said sarcastically, having developed a strong dislike for the Russian. Yao hastily shushed him up, frightened that the Russian would summon his waterworks.

Patting Ivan's head comfortingly, he said, "Aiya, Arthur is so irresponsible. I'll lodge a complaint to the Dean and they won't be able to hold any more block parties. That will teach them not to invite you aru."

Ivan's face lit up like a child discovering his favourite toy in his parcel.

"Yao always treats me the best~" Ivan reached across the table, nearly upsetting their dinner in the process, threw his arms around Yao and planted a kiss on his lips. Yao squealed and shoved Ivan away instinctively, but the deed was already done.

Xiang's hand flew to his mouth. Yong Soo's jaw fell open. Kiku admired the picture that his camera had captured.

"Aiyaaa! Ivan...! Kiku...!" Yao spluttered, torn between who to scream at first.

"Did you get a good shot? Can you send it to me?" Ivan asked eagerly as he tried to peer at Kiku's camera screen.

"Yes I did," Kiku held up his camera to show Ivan his handiwork. Kiku had lived up to his reputation of vice-chairman of the photography club. He had captured the right moment when their lips were together, when Ivan looked simply radiant and Yao was too surprised to look unhappy as he did now. They looked like a pair of lovers, posing for a purikura machine.

"I'll post it on Facebook so you can download it," Kiku promised.

"You're not putting that on Facebook aru!" Yao shouted. "Either delete it in front of me or hand over your camera right now."

"But this is my camera, and you both are in a public place. This is a legitimate candid shot. I have the right to do whatever I want with the picture," Kiku hugged his camera protectively.

"Yong Soo! Xiang! You saw what happened! He pounced on me!" Yao appealed.

"Da Ge," Xiang said calmly, "When you encourage someone with words and actions, don't expect him to not respond, unless he doesn't have feelings."

"I didn't do anything suggestive to encourage him aru!"

"Yao doesn't need to do anything suggestive~ I can feel his love from the smallest of smiles and faintest of touches~" Ivan leaned across for another hug.

"Aiya! Stop that aru!" Yao pushed Ivan's roving hand away. "Didn't you say you'd stop treating me like a blow-..."

Yao hastily held his tongue. If anything, this was a suggestive word that could not be uttered in front of minors.

"...up doll da? Yes I remember that, but I still don't know what a blow-up doll is," Ivan looked around questioningly at his four companions, much to Yao's horror.

"What's a blow-up doll?" Xiang asked.

"Blow-up dolls originate from Korea da-ze!"

Kiku's face paled. "Had their relationship progressed so far that they were discussing matters restricted to the bedroom?" he thought. "Exactly how much is Yao-nii hiding from us?"

"Ivan, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you and Yao-nii been together for?" Kiku asked.

Ivan brought up a hand and began counting fingers. Ignoring Yao's wails of "We're not together aru!", Ivan said cheerfully, "Five days~! He officially accepted my confession on Monday, although earlier on, I was already head over heels in love with him~"

"And you were already kissing in public on the very first day of your relationship?" Xiang frowned. So much for Yao's constant criticisms of 'indecent westerners'.

"Damn! What happened to your moral values, aniki?" Yong Soo said accusingly.

"My moral values? What happened to your ears aru? Why won't you hear me out when I said that I'm not a willing party to this stupid bear's fantasies aru?" Yao puffed out his face angrily.

"You're both out on a date, sharing a lover's set meal and cosying up at a lover's popular hideout, and you expect us to believe that you're not a willing party? Did he threaten you at gunpoint?" Yong Soo argued huffily.

"Aiya! No! But..."

"Yao..." came a wobbly, high-pitched voice, accompanied by a tug at his sleeve. "Do you really hate me so?"

Yao turned around to see Ivan looking mournfully at him, tears forming in his soft, violet eyes. Even Kiku and Xiang winced in sympathy.

"Oh no," Yao gasped, horrified. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to... I'm sorry Ivan, actually, I think you're very likable aru." Helplessly, he opened his arms and beckoned to a tearful Ivan, who ran headlong into Yao's embrace, burying his face against Yao's chest. Yao stroked his blonde hair tenderly, inviting raised eyebrows all round.

"You love me da?" Ivan stared up at Yao with lovelorn eyes.

"Yes I do. Now please stop crying aru!"

"Hypocrite!" Kiku, Xiang and Yong Soo rolled their eyes in unison.

"There, there," Yao ruffled Ivan's hair. "Nothing like a nice meal to improve your spirits aru! You should really start eating before it gets too cold to taste good," Yao gestured to his untouched hot pot.

Yao then turned and made a shooing motion at the three failed interrogators, "As for you three, you've imposed on Ivan long enough. Now take yourselves off and let him enjoy his dinner in peace!"

Ivan watched Kiku, Yong Soo and Xiang pick up their school bags grudgingly, pleased that the pests were finally leaving him and his angel alone for good. Satisfied that he could relax at last, he took a large spoonful of spicy hot soup to reward his patient stomach. Living up to his expectations, the soup was exceedingly spicy, but in a uniquely delicious way. Caving in to hunger pangs, he eagerly tasted a second spoonful. Then a third. Then a fourth. Suddenly, he was not tasting anything at all.

"Yao~" Ivan groaned, real tears flowing out of his eyes. "I think I've lost my taste buds."

"Nonsense aru! It's just a temporary numbing sensation. This dish isn't called numb and spicy hotpot for nothing aru," Yao brushed off Ivan's exaggerated claims. Nevertheless, he took a closer look at Ivan's lips. They were turning redder, like the rest of his face.

"But I can't feel anything with my tongue!" Ivan mumbled as he ran his tongue over his mouth cavity and teeth in a fruitless attempt to regain feeling in it.

"Try drinking this. It's supposed to help wash down the spice," Xiang pointed at Ivan's tea, still steaming hot from the good thermal insulating properties of its ceramic container.

As though grabbing on to a lifeline, Ivan clutched the cup and downed it in one gulp. Gradually, his taste buds revealed sign of life. At first, only one quarter of them were screaming in pain. Then the next quarter of them woke up to flames, followed by the next quarter. Soon, he had a full tongue of taste buds on fire.

"Yao~! I'm dying!" Ivan wailed, perspiration, mucus and tears pouring down his face.

"Aiya Xiang! Did you do that on purpose? You should know very well that hot tea only contributes more heat aru!"

"But we drink tea with hot pot too!"

"That's us, aru! Ivan is a typical Westerner with delicate taste buds," Yao replied.

"That's not true, Heracles likes _kare_," Kiku said indignantly.

"Aiya _kare_ is child's play. Who is Heracles?" Yao asked sharply.

"Heracles is my new classmate from Greece. He took up Japanese..."

"Should we really care who Heracles is when we're about to become murder suspects da-ze?" the voice of reason for once, Yong Soo interrupted Kiku's explanation.

"Aiya!" Taking a glance at a sobbing Ivan who looked at the end of his tether, Yao quickly instructed Kiku, Yong Soo and Xiang to gather buckets of ice, water and cups from the cafeteria. They took off without further ado.

Yao sat down beside Ivan. "Poor, poor Ivan," he leaned over and stroked Ivan's matted hair which was drenched in perspiration. He wished he had been firm about warning Ivan of the hazards this dish had for people inapt to spicy foods instead of childishly wanting to teach him a lesson with it.

"I feel like I'm in a hot pot," Ivan muttered breathlessly as he fanned himself vigorously with his hand.

"I'll help you take off your clothes. You'll feel cooler." Yao stood over Ivan and proceeded to remove Ivan's tie and all his shirts - the crazy Russian had worn so many layers under his inner shirt due to his intense fear of cold. No wonder he looked bulky - revealing a muscular torso glistening with sweat.

"Better now aru?"

Ivan shook his head. "My tongue feels like it's being bitten by a thousand ants."

"Hang in there," Yao urged. "They'll be back soon."

"Yao~" Ivan pulled an unsuspecting Yao onto his lap, causing the Chinese man to straddle his thighs awkwardly.

"Wha... what are you doing aru?" Yao struggled but Ivan only held him tighter, pinning his arms to his sides. Yao was painfully conscious of the damp skin pressing against himself.

"Yao~ kiss me~" Ivan's face was so close that Yao could smell the scent of Sichuan spice in his breath.

"Aiya! How can you still think such indecent thoughts at this sort of time!" Yao chided as he tried to put as much distance between his own face and the Russian's as possible.

"I'm serious~ You could kiss my pain away~"

"No! I can't aru!" Yao shook his head fervently.

"You won't try for me da?" Ivan's eyes filled with tears. He relinquished his grip suddenly. Yao had to grab Ivan's shoulders to prevent himself from slipping off his thighs.

"But of course you won't! You'd wished for the spice to kill me," Ivan sighed melodramatically.

"That's not true! I would never wish for your death!" Yao exclaimed, scandalized at the harsh accusation. Sure, he had cursed Ivan when the latter embarrassed him by choosing a lover's set meal in front of a long queue of schoolmates and the lecherous stall owner, but that was just in a fit of anger. Ivan did not deserve death for a reason so innocent as loving someone. Even if that someone was suffering from being loved right now.

"You will kiss me da?" Ivan's teary eyes drilled into Yao's softening amber ones.

Goaded by his conscience and Ivan's pathetic tear-stained face, Yao pressed his lips gently against Ivan's. He could feel Ivan's warm lips losing heat against his own cool ones. Ivan parted his lips invitingly, but Yao drew away instinctively, shaking his crimson head in ardent refusal.

"Yao~ You want to help me, don't you? Save me from the torment you got me into da~?" Ivan whispered encouragingly into Yao's ear.

Yao took a deep breath. He angled his lips against Ivan's and slid his tongue in. Ivan tightened his grip around the slender waist as he took pleasure in the small tongue hesitantly probing inside him. He yearned to kiss back with more passion, but this was the first time Yao had kissed him on his own accord. He did not want to scare him away. He closed his eyes, drinking in the magical moment. Yao was a good kisser. He did not kiss deeply, but in a gentle and soft manner that set him at ease. Sure enough, his pain ebbed away, replaced by fluffy feelings of bliss. Ivan could not help wondering how much experience Yao had had with kissing. Did he have many lovers before himself? Surely he did, what with being such a looker with great personality. Ill feelings began setting in again, this time from jealousy...

"ANIKI!"

Yao shot up in fright at the sound of his cousin's angry voice. Ivan turned around, his mind spinning off a dozen curses that he wished to heap on the inconsiderate intruder. A passable personification of the Italian flag appeared before their eyes. Greatly disturbed by the scene of a usually modest Yao wantonly making out in public with a half-naked Ivan, Xiang's face was sickly green, Kiku looked pale, while Yong Soo was red with rage.

"You great, big hypocrite!" Yong Soo flung down his buckets of ice and stormed off.

Xiang stared mutely at Yao, set down a tray of empty plastic cups and ran off after Yong Soo.

"Er... sorry for the interruption!" Kiku put down a pail of bottled water and hurried off after his cousins.

"Wait!" Yao cried. "It's not what you think aru!"

"Ignore them, Yao~ Let's continue~"

"AIYA IVAN BRAGINSKI! I've had enough of you aru!" Yao smacked Ivan across the face.

"OW!"

**To be continued...**

**

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**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: Da~! That was the long awaited date chapter. Hope you liked it. Personally I didn't. *pouts* I expected more than a kiss.

Yao: Fat hope! That was just the first date! What do you expect? I'm not such an easy person!

Ivan: Oh so that means we get to do more in the second date da~?

Yao: I seriously doubt there will even be a second date, you pervert!

Ivan: Unfortunately for you, H-chan is also a pervert, so I daresay there will be a second date, a third date, a fourth date...

Yao: FINE aru. I get the picture. Why are there so many perverted Rochu fangirls? Woe is me. Anyway, let's get back to discussing this chapter. Originally, H-chan wanted it to an actual interrogation chapter where my brothers actually get to ask Ivan some proper questions that reveal more about his personality. However, upon reflecting that Ivan is a yandere who would not let my brothers have their way, this chapter became like this.

Ivan: I like it better this way. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Also, H-chan has never eaten Sichuan Mala hot pot and hopes you will not mind if she has exaggerated Ivan's reaction. Personally, I think Ivan's reaction is ridiculous. I can't imagine anyone actually acting like that after consuming a bit of spice.

Ivan: A bit of spice? Chinese people seriously have iron-cast tongues and stomachs. However, the main point of this chapter was to have another kissing scene. I hope my technique improved and that you all enjoyed the scene ~

Yao: Excuse me but if anyone enjoyed the scene, I should get the credit for good technique. After all, I'm the one taking the active role here aru.

Ivan: Of course, my little sunflower. You can have all the credit, as much credit as you like if you take the active role every single time. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Umm... no, thanks. This once is enough aru.

Ivan: But I insist! Kolkolkolkol~ Don't be shy~ *pounce*

Yao: W... what are you doing? If I'm supposed to take the active role, why are you on top of me?

Ivan: If I make you do it, you will have no choice but to be 'active' da? Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Noooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	16. Ivan & Yao are now a school couple

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 16: Ivan and Yao are now a School Couple... Not.**

Yao walked briskly, trying to set as much distance as he could between himself and his persistent stalker. Two weeks had passed since his first date with Ivan. He had made it very clear to the Russian that that was their last date, but Ivan relentlessly stuck to him like a leech, trailing him everywhere he went except when Yao was having lessons. And each time Yao emerged from his classroom, Ivan would appear in front of him again, looking at him with mournful puppy-dog eyes.

"Yao~" Ivan cried from behind, "What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness?"

"Nothing aru!" Yao said impatiently. "I've already told you that I've forgiven you! Now leave me alone!"

"You're lying!" Ivan wailed. "If you forgave me, you would not have said that that was our last date da!"

"You've caused irreparable damage to my reputation but I forgave you for that. What more do you want!" Yao replied angrily without turning back to look at his distressed persuer.

"I want our relationship to be back to normal da!" Ivan cried.

"Oh do you mean normal friends? Sure, we can be friends, but friends don't stalk each other aru!" Yao countered coldly.

"Yao is my boyfriend da!" Ivan declared.

"I'm not your boyfriend aru!" Yao retorted.

"Then you obviously have not forgiven me da! Tell me what I have to do to earn your forgiveness!" Ivan cried as they slowed to a halt in front of the Student Council Room. Yao fumbled with his keys while Ivan watched on anxiously.

"Yao is so petty!" Ivan huffed. "It's already been two weeks and you're still so cold to me!"

"Well, it's been two weeks and students and even teachers are still writing petitions to me, stopping me in the corridors to ask me to take my 'problematic boyfriend' in hand!'" Yao snapped as he turned the key in his hand.

"It's not my fault that the word spread," Ivan pouted.

"But you started the fire! And there's absolutely no way I'm going to feed the fire with more wood before I stamp it out!" Yao slammed the door on a startled Ivan.

"Yao, I'll wait here for you!" Ivan called out when he had regained his wits.

"Bonjour ma jolie," Francis, the only person in the room, greeted. "Don't forget to lock the door," he reminded.

"You're early again!" Yao remarked as he settled down at his desk.

Usually, Francis only came when club hours were ending. However, lately he had been coming in much earlier than anyone else to avoid running into Ivan. The first time he came face-to-face with Ivan outside the room, he nearly had a heart attack. Of course, he would never admit that.

Francis sashayed to Yao's table and propped himself on the edge of his desk. Crossing his long legs leisurely, he said, "I came early because I thought you might like to seek some love advice from Nii-san."

"I don't know what you're talking about aru," Yao said testily.

"Why, you and Ivan the Terrible of course. The whole school knows about it, so don't even try denying it," Francis winked.

Yao sighed. Francis was right, and he had long given up denying it, knowing what a waste of breath it was. Still, it was beyond him why everyone would choose to believe his clownish Korean cousin over his honest, upright self. Knowing full well the hazards social networking websites had on personal privacy, Yao had monitored Kiku's Facebook activity hawkishly to ensure that he had not posted up the incriminating photo of Ivan springing a kiss on him. Unfortunately, he had forgotten what a loud-mouthed tattletale his other cousin was. By the time his inbox was filled with congratulatory messages, suicide threats and hate mail, he saw, far too late, Yong Soo's latest status update: "Stupid aniki makes out in public with his boyfriend that he has only met for 5 days but calls his bestest friend and favourite cousin in the world indecent for groping his breasts! Hypocrites originate from China da-ze!"

"I must say," Francis drawled, "You have weird taste, ma jolie. Ivan is cute in a 'I'm a lovable teddy, hug me' kind of way, and probably exceptionally well-developed in his vital regions - he gave another annoying wink - but he's a complete nutter."

"Don't call him a nutter," Yao defended instinctively.

"My, my, jumping to lover-boy's defence already? Keep an eye on him then, and make sure he doesn't do things that make people call him a nutter," Francis grinned mischievously.

"What he does has nothing to do with me aru!" Yao shot back.

"Let nii-san give you some valuable advice," Francis continued, unfazed by Yao's irritated expression. "While a little lover's squabble is healthy for a relationship, a long and intense disagreement like yours is bad. The good news is, there's a guaranteed solution to solve your problem. All you have to do is -beep- and -beep- and -beep- and..."

Minutes later, Alfred and Arthur entered the Student Council Room to witness the near-decapitation of Francis by a Chinese wok.

"Help~! Ivan's love for violence has rubbed off on Yao!" Francis ran behind Arthur.

Alfred pulled Arthur out of harm's way as the wok flew through the air where Arthur's head was just seconds ago and smashed against the door with a resounding clang.

"Yao~! Are you all right?" Came a muffled cry from the other side.

"I'm fine aru!" Yao snapped, knowing that Ivan would probably break down the door if he failed to reply. "Go away!"

"But nii-san is not fine..." Francis quaked under a desk which he had dived under to escape a second near-death experience.

"Calm the fuck down! This is the Student Council Room for God's sake! You're scaring poor Arthur," Alfred hugged the Englishman protectively as Yao tossed his wok angrily into an armchair.

"I'm not scared, baka! Get your hands off me!" Arthur shoved Alfred away rudely.

"You weren't so eager to let go of my hand when you saw Ivan Braginski skulking outside just now," Alfred pouted.

"You grabbed my hand first, you bastard!" Arthur shouted.

"If my heroic presence hadn't protected you, you'd be in trouble! Mind you, he was in such a bad mood that I'm sure he'd have attacked you if not for me," Alfred took out a burger from his jacket and promptly began chomping.

"Like he would be intimidated by you. He only listens to Yao. Right?" Arthur glared meaningfully at Yao.

"What?" Feigning ignorance, Yao settled down at his desk and began working on his computer. Really, why did everybody assume that he was obligated to take this wild polar bear in hand? 

* * *

The student council room was bathed in silence as everyone concentrated on their work at hand. In truth, while they were completely focused on their computers, some were hardly concentrating on actual work.

_Ping!_

A message notification from the Student Council Communication Network popped up on Yao's taskbar. Yao maximized the window and groaned inwardly when he saw the message.

_"Hey ma jolie, why is everyone hooking up with everyone except me? Aren't I the most charming and beautiful man in this school?"_

_"Only in your dreams. Stop disturbing me. I need to concentrate on doing the accounts."_

Francis let out a snort and craned his neck towards Yao. Yao was looking intently at his screen.

_"How is Ivan the Terrible better than me? I've been chasing you for the past four years and you won't even go on a date with me. Yet you guys meet for five days and you're already making out with him."_

Francis sniggered as furious tapping sounds issued from Yao's keyboard.

_"For the record, you've been chasing everyone in this school for the past four years. To answer your question, Ivan is taller than you, cuter than you, more sincere than you and more romantic than you. There. Should I criticize you further?"_

Yao tapped the 'Enter' key triumphantly. While Yao was a friendly person, he was also very proud. He hated playing second fiddle to anyone. Only true love deserved his effort, so Francis' Casanova tendencies would never make the cut in his book. If there was anything he hated in a relationship, it was insincerity. He would not waste his time on any frivolous skin-deep relationships.

Ivan, on the other hand, was practically the epitome of devotion. Yao studied his message, and was surprised by how genuine his compliments for Ivan seemed. Anyone who knew less would have thought that he really liked the Russian pervert! Personally, he did not consider being romantic a virtue, but he knew it would be a setback for Francis, who virtually considered himself a human Eros, to learn that someone else was actually more romantic (perverted) than himself.

Yet in his urgency to put the French man in his place, he had unconsciously spewed out all his deepest, truest thoughts about Ivan. Yao had had his fair share of stalkers and admirers, but none of them had ever stalked him incessantly as Ivan did. Regardless of how much he had yelled at him for the past week, Ivan would be the first person he met in the morning when he exited his dormitory building, with a bouquet of sunflowers for him. From his unkempt hair and dark eye-bags under the Russian's tired eyes, Yao knew he had woken up especially early to catch him before he left for school. He was always there no matter how early he woke up to avoid him. When he finished attending a class, Ivan was right outside the classroom waiting for him. When he was having his meals with his friends, Ivan was a table away from him, eating by his lonesome self. In fact, overlooking Ivan's perverseness and intimidatingly huge frame, his adorableness and sincerity were very much his cup of tea. Not to mention, if Ivan had been truthful, he had been in love with him for the past three months, which was a rather long time for an unreciprocated crush.

A loud wail from Francis, a scream from Arthur and a shout from Alfred jolted Yao out of his affectionate thoughts for Ivan.

"Boohoohoo! Nobody loves me! How can this be when I have such a charming body? Mais non!" Francis flung his clothes all over Alfred and ran around the room stark-naked.

"PUT YOUR DAMNED CLOTHES BACK ON YOU BASTARD! IT'S TOO EARLY TO GET DRUNK ON RED WINE!"

* * *

When Yao proceeded to leave for the day, Ivan was waiting outside for him as usual.

"Why are you still here? Don't you have classes to go to?" Yao exclaimed.

"I memorized Yao's schedule da~ I only come and look for you when I know you're in between classes or club duties, so I don't actually miss too much of my classes," Ivan explained, knowing that Yao thought badly of students who skipped classes.

"It's actually better if you don't miss any bit of class at all aru, the teachers always leave the most important stuff like exam tips to when you least expect it," Yao said, speaking from experience.

"But it's the only way I can see you~ Because you still won't forgive me~ Unless you'll change your mind?"

For good measure, he blinked rapidly to stimulate his tear ducts. Yao had to pinch his eyes shut to prevent himself from being captivated by the watery eyes.

"For the last time, I have already forgiven you aru," Yao's shoulders sagged tiredly.

"So we're lovers again da?" Ivan cheerfully placed his arm around Yao's shoulders.

"We were never lovers in the first place aru!" Yao lifted Ivan's arm off his shoulders and flung it aside.

"Aww~ Yao still hasn't forgiven me~ I'll just have to try harder until Yao forgives me da," Ivan smiled brightly.

Sighing, Yao raised his hands in resignation, "I give up. You may think and do as you wish."

Turning his back firmly on Ivan, he walked away as quickly as his legs could take him. Undetterred, Ivan picked up pace and hurried after his beloved, hoping that he would be able to grab a table next to him at dinner.**  
**

**To be continued...**

* * *

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: Hello~ This chapter is a little short since it features the allies and doesn't have much Rochu action. Basically, the author just wants to present Yao's hidden feelings for me, being the tsundere person he is...

Yao: What rubbish aru! This chapter is about Ivan's creepy stalkerish tendencies and the thick skin he has aru.

Ivan: In any case, Yao has already fallen head over heels in love with me, so expect more lovey-doveyness soon da~!

Yao: In your dreams maybe! Anyway, the Allies, they're good comic relief, aren't they?

Ivan: Da~! Especially the one called Francis.

Francis: Bonjour mon armor~! Someone missing nii-san?

Ivan: Just commenting on what a clown you are ^J^

Francis: Tsk~! You hurt nii-san's feelings~ But even if nii-san is a clown, nii-san still has the most beautiful body in the universe! *Strips*

Ivan: Kolkolkolkol~ But Yao loves my body most, don't you? *strips too*

Yao: Arrgh! Noooooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	17. Making your Male Friend Gay for You

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Dummy's Guide to Making your Male Friend Gay for You**

It was nearing midnight and Ivan was still lying in bed, wide awake. He got up and bent over to look at Toris' empty lower-deck bed for the umpteenth time, despite not having heard the room door click open in the quiet night. Ivan sighed. He had hoped for some advice from his Lithuanian room mate on his Cold War with Yao, but Toris was apparently out with Feliks somewhere. Why was everyone else lucky in love except himself? He knew good things were worth the wait, but as someone who was used to having his way, two weeks was a long time after he had been so sure that his three-month long crush would blossom.

Feeling too restless to stay in bed, Ivan decided to go out for a stroll. He got out of bed, put on his coat and scarf and walked out of his bedroom into the dark corridor. As he made his way to the stairwell, muffled voices and laughter caught his ears.

"Ahahaha~ ahahaha~ Doitsu~ Doitsu~ Come and catch me~ ve~"

"You naughty boy, I don't see you running so fast during football training! Come back here and let me put this on for you!" the speaker sounded brusque, but there was affection under the curtness.

"Ve~ Not until you catch me~"

"All right, you asked for it."

Loud footsteps and rustling noises ensued, followed by a loud thump and a scream.

"Got you!"

"Ahahaha~ ahahaha~ waaah! Stop tickling me! I'll do anything!"

As the laughter and screams faded to silence, Ivan found himself right in front of the dormitory room that Ludwig and Feliciano shared. Of course! How could he forget that another couple resided on his floor when Feliciano was so vocal about his love for Ludwig? Misinterpreting the silence from behind the door, Ivan raised a fist and knocked on the door.

"Ve~ someone's knocking on the door~"

"Ignore it..."

"Ve~ this feels tight..."

"But it's the usual one that you always wear... I told you not to eat so much pasta before bed..."

Ivan fumed. Ignore him? Nobody ever got away unscathed from denying Ivan of what he wanted. Well, except Yao. But that was another story. Ivan pounded harder as a purple haze began to fill his vision.

"Ve~ There's the knocking again~"

Unable to ignore the frantic knocking anymore, Ludwig called out gruffly, "It's late, come back tomorrow!"

Ivan expressed his refusal to comply with a hard thump against the wooden door with his waterpipe, eliciting a squeal of fright from the Italian.

"It's Ivan. Open up or you won't get any sleep tonight."

Feliciano responded with a terrified squeak. A short moment of silence reigned, as Ludwig pondered whether to go out and give Ivan a good kick and possibly fulfill his threat of not getting any sleep for the night. Sensing anxiety from his lover, he sighed. Feliciano hated violence. Picking a fight with Ivan would not only solve nothing but possibly inflict trauma on the timid Feliciano. Inwardly cursing Ivan for ruining his night, Ludwig called out, "Please hold on."

In a softer voice, he said, "Don't be afraid, I'll protect you."

"Ve~! I believe you, Doitsu~"

"All right, take it off, Feliciano."

"Ve? But we had such a hard time putting it on."

"Just take it off! It will be embarrassing if he sees it."

"But I still want to play! I don't want to take it off!"

"Be good, Feliciano! I'll make chocolate pasta with you tomorrow."

"Ve~! All right!"

Ivan tapped his waterpipe impatiently against his palm as grunting noises issued from the other side of the door. Whatever Ludwig was trying to remove from Feliciano seemed to refuse to budge.

"Ve~! I think it's stuck," Feliciano confirmed Ivan's conclusions.

Ludwig swore loudly in German. Ivan responded in Russian.

"If you don't open up, I'll break down the door and yell for the whole dormitory to come and see whatever it is that's embarrassing!" Ivan said menacingly.

Seconds later, the door was pulled back violently and Ivan came face-to-face with a very grumpy German.

"What do you want? Just spit it out and leave quickly. We need to sleep," Ludwig said irritably.

Personally, Ivan felt that Ludwig and Feliciano were doing nothing that suggested sleep on the agenda, but eager to get his concerns addressed, Ivan pushed past Ludwig, grabbed a chair and set down. He glanced at Feliciano and was surprised to see the Italian wrapped up in bedsheets, trembling from head to toe.

"Hey! I didn't let you in!" Ludwig complained as he marched over and stood in front of his bed to shield his lover protectively.

"Ludwig, you and Feliciano are lovers da?" Ivan asked smilingly.

"Er..." a luminescent glow appeared on the German's cheeks as he hesitated to answer.

"Ve~! I love Ludwig very very much!" Feliciano chirped happily, causing the German's cheeks to grow even redder.

"Shush Feliciano!" Ludwig hissed. Looking defiantly at Ivan, he demanded, "So what?"

"So can you teach me how to win Yao's heart? I love Yao very very much too, but all I've seem to have done is make him dislike me more~" Ivan pouted sadly. He looked so despondent that Feliciano momentarily forgot that Ivan was a ferocious polar bear and stretched out a latex-covered arm from under the bed sheets to pat him on the shoulder. Ludwig hastily shoved the arm back inside the sheets.

"Ah that," Ludwig gave a rare smile as his annoyance with the Russian ebbed away. "But I've seen you both together constantly. If he dislikes you, would he hang out with you? "

"Indeed he doesn't seem to mind me following him, but he doesn't talk to me either, and he gets extremely uptight and chases me away when his friends and family members show up," Ivan smiled sadly. "It's as though he is ashamed to be seen in my company."

"I do understand his feelings actually," Ludwig said sympathetically. "Every time Feliciano screams 'I love you Doitsu' and jumps into my arms when we bump into each other in the corridor in between classes, I feel like digging a hole in the ground and hiding inside." Ludwig turned and gave Feliciano an admonishing glare. Feliciano returned it with a silly smile. Ivan groaned with envy.

"Ve~ Don't be sad~ Why don't you ask Doitsu for advice? Many people don't know it, but it was Doitsu who started wooing me first, and he said it was hard work because I'm too dumb to realize his feelings ve~ Teehee~" Feliciano giggled, causing Ludwig's face to flush.

"Don't act as though being dumb is something to be proud of," Ludwig said crossly.

"Ludwig, you will help me da?" Ivan asked pleadingly.

"Um..." Ludwig began awkwardly. "I'm not good with words so it's difficult for me to explain, but I can lend you a book which has been useful to me. At least, I think the tips are quite effective because I managed to win Feliciano's heart after following the guidelines."

Ludwig walked over to his bookshelf and shifted some books around. Shortly after, he came back with a book that showed a picture of two men gazing sappily at each other on the cover.

"The Dummy's Guide to Making your Male Friend Gay for You, by Big Sister 801," Ivan read the words on the cover aloud. "What a strange pen name."

"Oh don't you know? This author's Yaoi manga are popular among the students here," Ludwig said. "Not that I've read them myself," he blushed. "But Gilbert likes reading and criticizing them. I don't even know why he buys them."

Ivan took the book from Ludwig and thumbed through the pages. Illustrations occupied more space than the text did, and very provocative pictures they were. Hell, there was even an entire illustration feature on male-on-male sex positions.

"Are you sure this will be helpful?" Ivan asked doubtfully as his face grew hot. Yao already freaked out whenever he kissed or hugged him. He could not imagine his reaction if he did to him what the pictures depicted.

"Don't pay attention to the pictures," Ludwig said firmly. "That's stuff you do only after you've won him over. I think the author includes the pictures only because she likes them," Ludwig explained.

"All right, thank you very much Ludwig," Ivan said as he got up from the chair and made to leave. "Are you sure you don't want my help to get Feliciano out of that latex suit?"

"That... that's not a latex suit!" Ludwig shouted, his face turning redder than Ivan had ever seen.

* * *

  
Ivan flipped through his new acquisition eagerly. A significant portion of the text was dedicated to how to test waters to see whether said male friend was gay and how to make him gay anyway if he was not so Ivan decided to skip it. After all, if Yao was indeed opposed to homosexual relationships, he would have been frank about it. He zeroed in on the last page, which was peppered in Ludwig's neat, italic handwriting.

**CHAPTER X: HAPPILY EVER AFTER**

/ / Now that your sweetheart accepts your feelings for him, the greatest obstacle has been removed! But don't get complacent! Remember, the man isn't yours until you get into his pants! But here are some sure ways that will make that become reality!

1. Physical intimacy is one of the most effective ways to preserve a relationship. Boy-Boy Relationship is not much different from a typical Boy-Girl Relationship. The only difference is, if a girl says no, she means no, and you'd better back off if you do not want to be on the receiving end of PMS. In the case of a Boy-Boy Relationship, if your boyfriend says 'No', he is simply tsundere and does not mean what he says. In other words, persist and you will be rewarded. / /

_Not true. I wish Feliciano would realize that when I say 'No', I really mean "No". Oh, this is supposed to be about him, not me._

A wide smile spread across Ivan's face. So Yao did not dislike his hugs and kisses, he was simply being tsundere after all. He did a little celebratory waltz around the room with his water pipe. Maybe Yao was even upset with him because he had not kissed or hugged him in ages. Ivan trembled in excitement from the thought of cozying up with his lovely angel again. Then he remembered the warning "don't get complacent", and hastily sat back down on his chair. Under Ludwig's neat cursive handwriting, he scrawled in his own childish one: Aim to express my love for Yao with actions at least once a day.

/ / 2. Find common ground. Nature decrees that opposites attract because Man, especially men, are born curious. However, it is still important for you and your sweet heart to find shared interests or you will find that curiosity and enigma are not enough to keep your relationship going. A good example of finding common ground would be a couple of different nationalities learning to adapt to each other's cultures and learning each others language. / /

_Master Italian and learn the Italian culture as Feliciano is too dumb to learn a new language._

Ivan pursed his lips thoughtfully. He and Yao were indeed very different. Yao spoke an entirely different native language from him. Even his food was almost fatal for him. But seriously speaking, Hetalia Gakuen could not have been a better place for him to learn a new language or culture. He wrote: Master Chinese and learn the Chinese culture as Yao is too forgetful to learn a new language.

/ / 3. Do not do unto your sweetheart, what your sweetheart would not want done to him. Trying to pander to your sweetheart's tastes may not always be a sure hit, but you can definitely avoid doing things that will piss him off. / /

_Don't scold Feliciano for hugging me because he will think I hate him and cry. Don't scold Feliciano for taking third and fourth helpings of pasta because he will be hungry later on and cry. Don't scold Feliciano for stripping because he will complain of mysterious heat strokes later and cry. In fact, don't scold Feliciano for anything because he will cry._

Ivan thought long and hard about the things Yao did not like. He knew Yao disliked ill-disciplined students, so he would try to be a good boy and not land himself in detention. Yao seemed to dislike displays of affection, but that was nullified by rule 1. Ivan congratulated himself for being a fast learner. But he realized, and was shocked when he did, that he knew very little about Yao. Eventually, he settled on "Find out everything about Yao ASAP. By hook or by crook."

/ / 4. Make friends with his family. They will become your strongest allies if your sweet heart refuses to get it on with you. Besides, even if he does, you would not want to marry him, only to spend the rest of your life fighting to keep his family members out of your cozy den. / /

_Bribe Lovino with his favorite things. Resist urge to respond with 'Yes, Tomato Whore?' when he calls me Potato Bastard._

Ivan frowned. It had not occurred to him that family was in any way relevant to a romance that only involved two people. If Big Sister 801 was right, then he was in trouble. He greatly disliked Yong Soo, the supposed bestest friend and favourite cousin, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Yong Soo always "hmmphed" at him and spoke loudly about how everything in Russia originated from Korea. He felt neutral towards the little brother Xiang, mainly because he could not detect any malicious thoughts from his poker face. Unlike with Yong Soo, he had not received mean words from Xiang. Then again, that was because the latter disregarded him thoroughly as though he were invisible.

Kiku, on the other hand, was a far cry from both of them. Unable to fulfill his promise of uploading the photo of him and Yao smooching on Facebook, Kiku had gone one step further to print out an A3 sized poster of the photo, laminate it and hand it to him wrapped in pretty paper. It now graced his wall, cheering him up whenever he returned from a day of fruitless stalking. Perhaps he could depend on Kiku to be matchmaker.

But despite being nice and cordial to him, the Japanese boy kept his distance, politely rejecting Ivan's request for all sorts of personal information pertaining to Yao such as his phone number and his weaknesses. Ivan was the type of person who would not take 'No' for an answer, but Kiku always spoke so ambiguously that by the time Ivan worked out that Kiku had meant to say 'No', the latter was already gone. Ivan supposed he would have to work doubly hard, especially since he did not know what he could bribe them with. He scrawled under Ludwig's note "Find out everything about Yong Soo, Xiang and Kiku ASAP and bribe them with their favorite things. Resist urge to call Yong Soo Kimchi Retard and Xiang Stiff Face".

Ivan moved on to Big Sister 801's final tip.

/ / 5. If all else fails, make him drunk and get into his pants. Once the milk is spilled, he will have no choice but to accept it. / /

Ivan stared, shocked at the immoral tip. He wondered whether it was a joke. Ludwig had no response for it, so Ivan assumed that he had captured Feliciano's heart with the first four tips. But he doubted that he would be as fortunate. Feliciano and Yao were as different as day and night when it came to expressing and accepting affection. But if the first four tips worked, surely the last one would work too da? Convinced that 'happily ever after' with Yao was on the cards, Ivan put the book away and got ready for bed.

A small disclaimer at the bottom of the page went unnoticed:  
/ / The author Big Sister 801 and publishing company Yaoi Times are not responsible for any legal charges, physical injury and verbal abuse that you may incur from attempting any of the above. Why else do you think Love is often likened to War? / /

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: Aww no Yao in this chapter, but let's hope the GerIta fans are happy. H-chan is a GerIta fan herself, although her greatest love is still Rochu.

Yao: This chapter is full of BS. Please do not take the tips in the Dummy's Guide seriously. They only work in BL fics. Attempting these half-witted stunts in real life will only get you into very serious trouble with the law and a heavy guilty conscience aru.

Ivan: Big Sister 801 is lovely Eliza if you haven't already guessed da~ Because 801 is read Yaoi in Japanese. As for 'Big Sister', why don't you explain, Yao, since it originates from your own language? Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: *Cough* Well, this is embarrassing, but my people call her 801 Jie Jie, which means Big Sister 801. She sure is a bad influence on my kids.

Ivan: She's a genius! I learnt many things from her!

Yao: What genius? She's just a perverted bitch.

Ivan: Dear me, how vulgar to call a lady that~

Yao: Lady my foot! If I'm vulgar, I wonder what becomes of the things you do aru.

Ivan: Oh? What sort of _things_ do I do? Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Things are... things aru. Excuse me, I need to go and memorize my script.

Ivan: Not so fast~ *pounce*

Yao: W... what are you doing aru?

Ivan: Executing point number 5 da~ Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: That's raep! It's against the law and morally wrong! I'll call the police and they'll arrest you aru!

Ivan: No no, this is a BL story da? The context is different. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Nooooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	18. A New Subject and a New Friendship

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 18: A New Subject and A New Friendship**

Yao pranced around his dormitory room in excitement, pulling on black pants, a white long-sleeved shirt, a black blazer and a black tie - all designer wear. Today he had received his biggest and most important assignment ever from his professor - grading an oral presentation for a second-year Chinese studies class. Yao's life-long dream job was teaching. He would impart to the lovely, innocent little children under his charge, Confucius values that would cultivate them into virtuous people who took pride in serving mankind. In return, they would respect and love him as a big brother. He would continue to be surrounded by a large crowd of eager youngsters when he had lived till a ripe old age, long after Xiang and Wan were too old for him to coddle.

The circumstance of his temporary appointment was rather sudden. Yao had woken up and was just getting ready to go for breakfast when he received a phone call from Professor Zhang.

"Wang Yao, I had a bad scare this morning and I need to see my heart doctor. Can you grade my second-years' oral presentation in my stead? Today's the deadline and all the other teachers are busy."

Naturally, Yao agreed heartily, urging his Professor to take a long vacation to rest his poor heart if needed.

After retying his pony-tail for the hundredth time, Yao was finally satisfied that he looked the part of a college professor. He grabbed his briefcase, kissed his Gitty-chan plushie on the forehead for good luck and headed out of his dormitory room. As Yao reached the main gates of the dormitory building, he began to approach with more stealth and caution. He knew that Ivan usually skulked outside his dormitory building at this time, waiting for him. On such a big day, he could not afford being obstructed by Ivan. To his surprise, the main gate was devoid of polar bears. He walked through the cafeteria, and Ivan was still not behind him. He walked towards the entrance of the Asian academic building and Ivan was still not calling out to him, trying to shove a bunch of sunflowers into his arms. Yao was puzzled. He hoped Ivan had not fallen ill.

As Yao made his way towards the classroom that his class was held in, he could not help feeling that something was missing. He stopped at several intervals to check his briefcase. Attendance sheet, grading guidebook, stationery, handphone, wallet, student ID... everything was there. He simply could not fathom what on earth was absent that could give him such a strange sense of emptiness. Realizing that he was going to be late from all the stopping and checking, he quickened his pace. He would figure out what was bothering him later.

As Yao approached his destination, he was astounded by the noise level issuing from the classroom. He had been under the impression that he was supposed to take charge of a class of college second-years, not a class of second graders. He entered the classroom. Sure enough, he was in the right class. He could see many familiar faces belonging to his second-year juniors, Yong Soo among them, who was incidentally contributing the most amount of noise pollution with his loud reasoning on why everything originated from Korea.

"Ahem!" Yao cleared his throat loudly. The class turned to look at him. Suddenly, everyone fell quiet.

They really respect me! Yao thought happily.

"Yao~ Guess who da?" Yao jumped as a familiar voice whispered into his ear. One large hand obscured Yao's eyes, while an arm encircled his waist shamelessly.

"Wah!" Yao dropped his briefcase in shock. He tugged hard at the arm around his waist, but it made no signs of budging.

"Guess who?" the voice urged, while the arm squeezed tighter around his waist.

Of course Yao knew who it was. That voice followed him down the corridors everyday, while those arms had pulled him into so many indecent hugs. In spite realizing that this was what he was missing on his way to class, he was not going to give Ivan satisfaction of knowing he had made an impression.

"Aiyaaa! How should I know! Release me at once aru! I'm a teacher and I can have you expelled for harassment aru!" Yao struggled fruitlessly against the iron grip around his waist.

"Awww... Yao doesn't remember me," the childish voice said sadly. "I'll just have to find a way to make you remember da~"

Without warning, Yao found himself spun around and pushed against a wall. He tried to protest as Ivan's face drew nearer towards his own, but his reflexes were too slow. A gloved hand tilted his chin up forcefully. In a second, his lips were covered by Ivan's soft warm ones. Yao gasped as Ivan slid his tongue through his partially parted lips. He could feel the agile organ pushing deep into his mouth, caressing and wrapping his own tongue in passionate desire. He whimpered from embarrassment and discomfort and dug his fingers into the Russian's broad back. Yet again, the polar bear was robbing him of oxygen. The room exploded in claps, jeers and cat-calls, but Yao could hear nothing except his own frenzied heartbeat.

Eventually, Ivan gently but unwillingly detached his lips from Yao. Momentarily shocked by the sudden rush of air and the polar bear's brazenness, Yao simply stared back at Ivan. Ivan, whose cheeks had turned faintly pink, gazed back at Yao lovingly, a hint of guilt in his innocent, round eyes.

"Yao~ I didn't have time to get you sunflowers this morning because I had to go to the bookshop to buy my new textbook, but I hope my morning kiss makes up for it da~?"

"I... I don't care for your stupid sunflowers! Or your morning kiss aru!" Yao spluttered. "How dare you! How dare you! I've told you so many times that I really hate it when you do this aru!" Yao's voice crescendoed as his senses came back and he pushed Ivan away.

A beautiful crimson blush graced his cheeks. So adorable, Ivan thought as he pinched his cheeks playfully, earning another angry yelp from the Chinese man. Looks like having a tsundere boyfriend was not a bad thing after all. He watched keenly as Yao smoothed out the creases on his suit fervently.

"And stop filming already! I'll confiscate your phones aru!" Yao snapped at the class, who had been recording the passionate "live" kissing scene with their phones, and still had their phones held up high to record Yao's angry outburst. Ivan made a mental note to ask them for a recording later.

Furious that Ivan had ruined his grand entrance as Professor Wang Yao, he berated the Russian with as much gusto as he could muster to salvage whatever remaining dignity he had, "Get lost before I get violent aru! I have a class to teach, or I would make sure to teach you a lesson before letting you go."

"But I'm in this class too da~!" Ivan waved his Chinese Studies textbook cheerfully.

"Don't lie," Yao said sternly. "You can't possibly be in this class if you don't even know what Sichuan Mala Hotpot is aru. Professor Zhang only takes in students with a good foundation and interest in Chinese."

"But it's true~ This is my letter of acceptance," Ivan took out a piece of paper and handed it to Yao. Yao grabbed it and scanned through it. Then he read it again one more time. Then he held it up towards the ceiling light as though to verify its authenticity. Failing to detect any loopholes, Yao was forced to accept the fact that strict Professor Zhang, whom he respected and looked up to, had accepted Ivan into his class despite knowing that his Chinese knowledge was nada and that he probably had no genuine interest in Chinese at all. He had descended to the level of Dean Roma.

"Fine, sit down and stop making a nuisance of yourself aru," Yao said through gritted teeth. Turning to address the students, he said in a louder voice, "Professor Zhang won't be in this morning..."

"YAY!" more shouts and clapping ensued from the jubilant second-years as they began putting away their things.

"More time to finish that wretched assignment!"

"Let's go catch that new Korean movie today!"

"Korean movies originate from Korea da-ze!"

"Yong Soo said something sensible today. I need to buy lottery!"

"Shut up and sit down aru!" Yao snapped. "I'll be grading your presentations in his stead, so you'd better prepare yourselves now!"

A collective groan of disappointment followed, but everyone settled back into their seats. Loud rustling sounds followed as the students began retrieving their laptops from their bags.

"Why isn't Professor Zhang here da? I was looking forward to being taught by him. He's such a nice man~" Ivan called from his seat in the front row. He did not have to do the presentation, since it was his first day in the class, so he conveniently chose a seat next to where Yao had put his briefcase.

"He's gone to see a heart doctor aru," Yao replied irritably as he grudgingly sat down beside Ivan.

"A heart doctor da? Oh dear, I hope it's not because of me~" Ivan said.

"What aru?"

"Nothing~" Ivan smiled innocently.  


* * *

  
At 5 a.m in the morning, blurry-eyed Professor Zhang dressed in disheveled bed clothes yawned repeatedly as he handed back a blank test paper to Ivan.

"I'm sorry, young man, I can't accept you into my class when you can't even write your own name in Chinese. You won't be able to catch up with the coursework."

"Awww~ Don't be so cruel! I wouldn't need to take Chinese studies if I knew Chinese da?" Ivan whined.

"Please, young man, if I was cruel, I wouldn't allow you to take a qualifying paper inside my room at four in the morning! I appreciate your interest in my subject, but you will fail it if you jump straight in without any foundation. Now take yourself off, I need to sleep."

"This is your final decision da?" Ivan's childish voice took a turn to one of a darker tone.

"Very final, young man, good night, or rather, good morning," Professor Zhang said firmly.

"Very well then, you asked for it, kolkolkolkol~" Ivan tapped his water pipe menacingly against his palm.

* * *

"Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan chuckled as he congratulated himself on a job well-done. But the smile on his face was wiped off when he saw his beloved angel run off to speak to a blond, bespectacled student with a strand of idiot hair sticking out.

Alfred Fucking Jones, the bastard who put him out like a light on his first day at school. He wondered how he could have failed to notice him when he was looking around the classroom just now. Alfred looked every bit as annoying and obtrusive as he always did, albeit a little paler than usual. And now he was trying to seduce his Yao. Ivan clenched his fists as he watched them chat cordially like old friends.

"Aiya Alfred! I didn't expect to see you here aru!" Yao made a beeline to his fellow student councilor when he spotted him.

"I'm Matthew. Matthew Williams Jones. Alfred is my brother," Matthew replied in a whisper heard by no one.

"It's really shocking to see you here aru. I thought you always said that the whole world should speak English because it's your national language. What are you doing in a second-year class anyway when you're a third-year student? Did you fail your course last year aru?"

"I _am_ a second-year. You've got me confused with Alfred," Matthew whispered indignantly. "Everyone does," he added with a sigh.

"Heavens, that is some nasty sore throat you have. I hope I can hear you later. I have to grade your spoken abilities too aru. Incidentally, I'm looking forward to hearing you speak Chinese, since you're always laughing at my accent aru." With a smirk, Yao turned on his heels and went back to his seat in the front row where he would watch the presentations and carry out his grading.

By the time the class was approaching the end, Yao was already contemplating a dream career change. The class was chaotic, with students running out back to their dormitories to retrieve forgotten thumb drives, CDs and laptops. Some even tried to mess with him by beginning their presentations with a plea for leniency, "Nini~ I was so stressed and tired by so much homework that I didn't have time to do this. Please give me a good grade anyway? I'll give you a set of Hello Kitty stationery in return. Please~ Nini~~"

Fortunately, Yao was levelheaded enough not to be bought over by their winsome voices. Even more fortunately, he already had said Hello Kitty items that they were trying to bribe him with. The last straw came when Yong Soo delivered his presentation on "How Korea Built the Great Wall of China". Yao failed him on the spot and nobody dared to mess with him thus after.

The last student, Matthew, went up to the front and bowed modestly to the audience. For some strange reason, Yao could not find Alfred's name on the attendance sheet, so he wrote it down at the bottom of the sheet. Then he set up straight, eager to hear him speak. This small movement was noticed by Ivan, who felt a twinge of jealousy.

Yao was surprised to note that "Alfred" had gone a few shades paler, so much so that he practically blended into the white projector screen. Yao wondered if he was actually nervous. A few slide changes later, Yao finally registered that "Alfred" was already half-way through his presentation, although he had not said anything. Yao briefly worried himself over the possibility of developing temporary deafness from shouting so much at his errant juniors, but he could still hear Yong Soo all the way at the back, yakking away about 'stupid aniki', so it could not possibly be his problem.

Fifteen minutes passed, and still, the slide had not changed. He gazed intently ahead, and suddenly realized that "Alfred" was no longer within his sight. He lowered his gaze and spotted an unconscious body on the floor.

"Alfred!" Yao rushed forward in alarm. Many students begun to stir, having just noticed the unconscious body like Yao. Yao knelt down beside the limp body, which was so deathly pale now that it was starting to resemble a corpse. He grabbed it, pounded it, shook it, but received no response. He felt for his pulse and sighed in relief. He pressed his hands on Matthew's chest, inhaled deeply and lowered his lips to Matthew's mouth.

"Stop!"

Ivan rushed forward and shoved Yao aside.

"What are you doing aru?" Yao demanded.

"What are _you_ doing?" Ivan retorted angrily.

"Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation aru! His pulse is very weak!" Yao said anxiously.

"Don't waste your kiss on scum like that!" Ivan bristled. "Here, let me do it."

Raising his water pipe high above him, he brought it down hard on Matthew's stomach. Yao let out a shout of surprise while Matthew shot up with a cry of pain.

"Look, easy does it. Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan smiled evilly. If he knew better, "Alfred" was pulling a fast one to cheat a kiss out of Yao. He would teach the bastard a lesson for trying to take advantage of his sweetheart.

"That was awful aru!" Yao winced. "Alfred, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Matthew wheezed. "Anemia's acting up again and I forgot my medicine."

"Should I bring you to the school doctor? You look really pale aru," Yao said worriedly.

"No I'm all right, really. I can finish my presentation and go later," Matthew insisted.

"Well, let's get going aru," Yao offered Matthew a hand for support, apparently not taking in a word he had said.

"No, let me take him, Yao. You wouldn't want the students to go changing their grades da?" Ivan gestured at the students, who were now crowding around Yao's chair with pens and white-out in their hands.

"Hey, stop that aru!" Yao cried as the students scooted away. Turning to Ivan he said, "All right, but don't try anything funny or you'll get it from me aru."

"Don't worry, I won't," Ivan said smilingly as he pulled Matthew's arm over his own shoulders. With a whisper, he added, "Not with you seeing anyway. Kolkolkolkol~"

Nobody heard Matthew's frightened whimpering as Ivan half-carried, half-dragged him out of the classroom.

Outside the classroom, Matthew tried to push Ivan's hand away.

"You can release me, I'm capable of walking by myself," Matthew whispered.

Ivan complied, but with so much force that caused Matthew to land hard on his butt with a yell of pain.

"Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan's waterpipe hovered menacingly over Matthew. "So. Did you seriously think you could get away with that punch on my first day at school?"

Matthew's eyes widened in fear. Alfred had gotten him into a fair number of troubles due to frequent cases of mistaken identity, but this time, he seemed to have offended someone really formidable.

"N...no! It wasn't me!" Matthew squeaked in fright as the waterpipe drew nearer.

"But of course you did, or you wouldn't have dared to seduce my Yao right under my nose. How dreadfully thick-skinned of you. Looks like I have to teach you how to fear da? Kolkolkolkol~"

* * *

"I am so awfully sorry about this aru! I didn't realize Ivan would hurt your brother. But like he said, it wasn't intentional, so please forgive him aru. Don't sue him!" Yao apologized profusely to a fuming Alfred and a trembling Matthew whose head was half-wrapped in bandages. Ivan hovered behind Yao, looking sour.

"What do you mean it wasn't intentional? Marcus would have died - "Matthew!" - if I hadn't dropped by his class to give him his medicine and see this nut attacking him. And mind you, he did say that he regrets it wasn't me he had hit!" Alfred bristled.

"Don't exaggerate, Alfred, I'm fine, really. Let's just let the matter rest," Matthew whispered.

"Yes, I know Ivan's entirely in the wrong. But he's already agreed to pay for er... your brother's medical bills. At least he's not denying responsibility aru!"

"Do you think money makes the world go round? I want an apology. A proper apology and assurance that he won't attack Malcolm, or me again. From Braginski, not you!" Alfred spat.

"All right, Ivan, apologize!" Yao said sternly to the unhappy Russian behind him.

"But I already did! I told Alfred's brother that I'm sorry for mistaking him for that bastard Alfred Jones. Why should I apologize to Alfred Jones anyway when I wouldn't be sorry to hit him," Ivan whined.

"You see now?" Alfred roared. "He's not at all remorseful! Looks like I have no choice but to call my lawyer in to settle this."

"Don't!" Yao wailed. "Isn't there any other way to settle this peacefully aru?"

"Why bother humoring him? The law won't stand at the side of such scum," Ivan pouted.

"The point is, you assaulted someone, and that is wrong, no matter what reason you had. Why can't you be reasonable and just apologize aru? How hard is that aru? You said you loved me, but you won't even listen to me when I ask you to do such a simple thing aru!" Yao wrung his hands in exasperation.

Something clicked in the Russian's brain. Turning to look Alfred in the eye, Ivan said seriously, "Alfred Jones, I'm sorry for hitting your brother and for wanting to hit you. On Yao's account, I won't do it again."

Yao stopped wringing his hands. Images of horrible punishments vanished from Alfred's mind.

"Well," Alfred said, stunned. "That was surprisingly quick. Will you honour your promise for the rest of your life?"

"Da, if you don't hit me and if your brother also promises to keep his grimy hands off my Yao," Ivan nodded grimly.

"Don't worry, I won't hit you if you don't hit me. As for Martin, he has absolutely no interest in anyone except Kumajiro-kun, right?" Alfred chuckled as he clapped Matthew's shoulders.

"Just because nobody notices me..." Matthew murmured bitterly.

"Friends da?" Unexpectedly, Ivan reached out a hand to Alfred.

"Yup, friends," Alfred flashed him a wide grin and shook his hand energetically.

"Well, I'm off to stalk Arthur," Alfred winked. "You know, you're actually quite an inspiration."

With a wave, Alfred walked off, leaving Yao and a forgotten Matthew to dwell in puzzlement on the amazing turn of events.

"Yao~ you're actually worried about me~ I'm so touched~" Ivan put his arms around Yao and nuzzled his cheek affectionately.

"Aiya! Who's worried about you! I was just afraid that he would sue me for letting you take his brother to the clinic," Yao grumbled as he tried to push Ivan away. "Speaking of that, instead of helping Alfred's brother, you actually hit him. The poor thing, he looks like such a nice and docile boy too unlike his loud older brother. You really are awful aru."

"Yao seems to like Alfred's brother da?" Ivan sulked as he considered retracting his promise to Alfred of not attacking Matthew.

"Of course not aru! I've only just met him and I don't even know his name!" Yao cried. "But it's got nothing to do with you anyway!" he added.

"How can it have nothing to do with me da? Yao is my boyfriend~" Ivan said brightly.

"Since when!" Yao protested.

"Since you accepted my love da? You said that if I loved you, I would do what you told me to. I've been a good boy and listened to you. Aren't you going to reward me?" Ivan looked at Yao expectantly.

"Why should I aru? Doing the right thing was for your own good!" Yao said incredulously.

"Aww~ Yao is so good to me. I must reward you da!"

"I don't want your reward! Go away aru!"

"Don't be shy~ There's nobody here~"

"Nobody here indeed," Matthew sighed as he watched Yao put up futile resistance against Ivan's kisses.

**To be continued...**

**

* * *

**

**FREE TALK:**

Ivan: This chapter was so fun to act in~ Apart from getting to molest my most favourite person in the world, I got to hit Alfred's brother and let off steam! I wish I got to hit Alfred though.

Alfred: Oy what? Do you want to fight? You don't stand a chance against the HERO!

Yao: H-chan said there shall be no violence, so shut up if you still want to be on her payroll aru!

Alfred: No violence? So how come Ivan gets to hit Max and Max gets to claim insurance? The point is, I offered to take Max's role since we look identical and I get a fatter paycheck in return. Nothing could be fairer, but H-chan rejected my reasonable request! I want to speak to my union!

Yao: The problem is, most people mistake your brother for you, but nobody would ever mistake you for your brother.

Ivan: That's right. Your skin is so thick that anyone can tell it's you at a glance da~

Alfred: You talking about yourself, fatso?

Ivan: KORU?

BATTLE OF DEATH ROUND 1: Alfred F. Jones vs Ivan Braginski. Referee: Wang Yao  
THE FIGHT BEGINS!

Yao: What? No no, you are supposed to be friends aru...

Matthew: Um... hello, this is Matthew... can you all hear me?

Matthew: Umm... I guess not, but someone has to do the free talk, so I guess I'll do it, although nobody can hear me... In this story, I have anemia so that I can 'blend into the walls' logically. Because it doesn't make sense for a normal person to just vanish into thin air. However, I seem to be able to do it. I wonder why. Maybe I should join Arthur's magician club. Provided he can see me in the first place. Sigh. Also, I have a very weak throat and hence speak in whispers. So this is my story, but I guess nobody's listening.

Meanwhile, Alfred and Ivan are still fighting and Yao is still trying to stop them.

**In the Next Chapter:** Ivan experiments Big Sister 801's tip number 4 on Xiang, Yong Soo and Kiku with surprising results. Subsequently, he also nails down Yao's greatest weakness, making it harder for Yao to resist him!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	19. Of Bribes and Threats

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Of Bribes and Threats**

Yao never knew that teaching could be such a chore. He had only taken the Chinese Studies sophomore class for a week and already, he felt as though he had aged by a decade. He supposed he could have fared better if not for the presence of a certain wild polar bear by the name of Ivan Braginski. For better or worst, Ivan had failed to show up at a couple of his classes, which relieved, yet annoyed him. Whenever he did turn up, he would not only ambush him to "show him appreciation for teaching him" in front of the entire class, but also kept interrupting his lectures to ask stupid questions that a pre-school grader could have answered.

He was exceedingly glad that Professor Zhang would be returning to teach next Monday. He never wanted to teach a class with Ivan in it ever again.

Fortunately, his stressful week had come to an end and he was all geared up for his reward. This evening, Kiku was treating Yong Soo, Xiang and himself to the latest, most-anticipated horror flick in town. They would then enjoy a hearty dinner to make up for getting freaked out for two hours, during which he would take the opportunity to pour out his grievances to Xiang and Kiku who were good listeners. With such cheerful thoughts in mind, he trotted buoyantly towards the school gates where he had arranged to meet them.

The school gate was crowded with students gathering to go out for the evening, but Yao had no difficulties spotting the people he wanted to see. Along with the person he most did not want to see.

Ivan, with his prominent height and winter gear, stood out from the crowd. A void of space encircled him as students near him stood as far away from him as they could, save for Kiku, Yong Soo and Xiang, who milled around Ivan, looking agitated. Yong Soo, especially, flapped his bulky sleeves so vigorously that he looked confrontational. Concerned that Yong Soo was bothering Ivan, Yao widened his strides and marched over to the foursome as quickly as he could.

"Is everything all right?" Yao asked.

"Aniki!" Yong Soo squealed as he waved a CD in Yao's face. "You won't believe this but Ivan got me this limited First Press edition CD, personally autographed by Rain himself da-ze!"

Yao frowned in puzzlement. Ivan did not come across as the sort of person who would be nice to others, let alone give them presents.

Yao grabbed the CD to get it out of his face, inciting a yelp from Yong Soo. "Watch it, aniki! If you even scratch the cover, you won't be able to repay for the damage even if Aunt and Uncle sell off all their property around the world da-ze!"

Yao snorted derisively. "He's just a celebrity."

"Just a celebrity?" Yong Soo looked indignant. "He is Korean. And he dances better than I do da-ze!"

"Anyone can dance better than you," Xiang deadpanned, although the corners of his mouth had curled upwards slightly.

"Hey, I'm older than you are. Just because you no longer need us to help you complete your Bruce Lee movie collection does not mean you can be rude to me," Yong Soo crossed his arms huffily.

"I was just stating a fact," Xiang said stoutly as he folded his own arms. Yao spotted the video tape case that Xiang hugged against his chest.

"Wow! Isn't that the elusive Bruce Lee movie that we've been searching in all the antique movie shops for the past years?"

"Yes, but Ivan managed to find it," Xiang replied as a rare smile graced his usually aloof face.

Ivan returned Yao's frown with a dazzling smile.

"Since I'm your boyfriend, it's only right that I give presents to your family da?"

"You're not my boyfriend aru!" Yao said snappishly. Turning Yong Soo's newest treasured acquisition over in his hands, he said scornfully, "For all we know, you could have signed this yourself. And we can't even tell if the Bruce Lee tape is authentic since we have never seen the original content. Don't think you can bribe my family with counterfeits. They may be naive, but I'm not."

His haughty retort was met with protest from said naive family members.

"I've seen enough Bruce Lee video tapes to be able to tell the difference between the authentic ones and the fake ones," Xiang said curtly.

"This is definitely Rain's signature! I can even smell his favourite cologne on the cover da-ze!"

"You're only saying this because you want them to be real aru," Yao said patiently. "If you were really impartial and wise, you would not accept them at face value. Don't you agree, Kiku? Kiku?"

Yao looked around and found Kiku standing behind him, eyes glued to his Nintendo DS.

"I don't think he'll come back to Earth until he succeeds in getting Heracles to date him da-ze," Yong Soo smirked.

"He what?" Yao demanded, wondering if he had heard him correctly.

"Heracles, a character in the game Boy's LovePlus da~" Ivan explained smilingly. "Kiku wanted a male-version of the game LovePlus. How coincidental that I knew someone from the company, so I got hold of a beta version for him~ It's not even out in the market yet~"

"What! How dare you lead him astray! Do you know that he nearly failed his finals last year because he spent so much time gaming?" Yao cried. "And you, Kiku! Stop playing these dating sim games. It's unhealthy! Get yourself a girlfriend... or boyfriend aru!"

Kiku grimaced as he replied distractedly, "Hush, I'm trying to remember what his hobbies are. Don't distract me."

"Kiku! Listen to me aru!"

"Yao~ Stop worrying da? He's just having a bit of fun. As an adult, he can take care of himself!" Ivan coaxed as he cast a meaningful glance at Yong Soo.

"That's right, aniki! Stop treating us like children," Yong Soo rallied. Turning to Ivan, he said, "We'll be on our way now. We kept our word and got aniki here for you. I want DBSK's autograph next da-ze!"

"Here are your movie tickets," Xiang pressed a pair of tickets into Ivan's hand. "Would you happen to know anyone who sells old Bruce Lee posters?"

"I'll keep a lookout for both of you~" Ivan said congenially. "Enjoy your CD, Yong Soo, and your movie, Xiang~"

"You too," Xiang nodded. Carefully avoiding Yao's eyes, he tugged Kiku's arm and urged, "Come on, let's not impose on Da Ge and Ivan. You can continue playing when we get back to the dormitory."

"A bit more... almost there... " Kiku muttered, eyes still trained on the small screen.

"We need to get out of here before Da Ge blows up," Xiang hissed.

"You might as well be talking to a tree da-ze!" Yong Soo sighed as he hooked his arm around Kiku's to steer him forward. Xiang took hold of the other arm and they took their leave, Kiku shuffling awkwardly between them, hands still not leaving his machine.

Yao stared after them, thunderstruck. He wanted to yell at them, to shake them, to blow up at them like Xiang had feared. But he could not find his voice, and his feet were deeply rooted to the ground, preventing him from movement.

"Da~! It's just the two of us then~" Ivan beamed. The joyful expression on his face turned to concern when he saw Yao's eyes misting over.

"What's wrong?" Ivan's smiling face filled with concern.

"My kin, my brothers whom I cared so much for..." Yao stammered as he choked on tears of disappointment and anger, "They swapped me for a lousy CD, a mouldy video tape and a perverted video game aru! What am I? A piece of meat?"

"Don't be sad~ If you're a piece of meat, then you're a delectable and pricey piece of meat~ Those things didn't come easy da~" Ivan put his arms around Yao and cuddled him in what he felt was a consoling manner. Yao squealed in protest and pushed him away.

"This is all your fault!" Yao said hoarsely. "You led them astray to your own advantage! How despicable! Don't think I'll go on a date with you because you lot tricked me into it. I'm going back to give them a piece of my mind and you can watch the movie all by yourself aru!"

"Aww~! Don't go!" Ivan grabbed Yao's arm as he turned to leave. "They had your best interests in heart too! They only agreed to help me because they were touched by my dedication to earn their friendship. They said that only a devoted man like myself was deserving of you~ Wouldn't you agree with them?"

"My foot! You bought them over with material goods. This is nothing more than an underhanded commercial exchange aru!"

"Ah~ Kiku was right when he said that you're a difficult person to win over," Ivan smiled, undaunted, as he felt around his coat searchingly. "Maybe this will persuade you da?"

When Ivan produced the most adorable Hello Kitty doll, the size of his own hand, clad in a panda suit from his coat, Yao felt his mind go blank. All he could think of was how much he wanted to cuddle it and see it on his own shelf, among his inexhaustible collection of Kitty-chan dolls.

"Aiyaaaa~ Kitty-chan~!" Yao lunged himself at the doll, but Ivan raised his arms, lifting the doll well out of Yao's reach. Missing their intended target, Yao's hands found themselves on Ivan's chest instead. Yao blushed furiously and hastily retreated several steps. Ivan smiled more brightly than ever, knowing that he had nailed Yao's Achilles heel.

"Where did you get that from? I've never seen it before!" Yao said accusingly, as though it was a crime for anyone to own a Kitty-chan item that he did not have.

"It's custom-made da~ There is only one such doll in the world~" Ivan hugged the doll and look at him with a teasing grin.

"I'll buy it from you! How much is it?" Yao demanded.

"It's priceless da~ I'm not selling it. Unless you can give me something priceless in return~" Ivan fiddled with the panda hood, causing it to come off. The tiniest little panda peeked out from behind Kitty-chan's ear, seducing Yao to play peek-a-boo with it. Yao emitted a little scream of excitement.

"What do you want in return? I'll try my best to get it for you! Please aru?"

This time, it was Ivan's turn to feel his brain turn to mush as Yao looked up at him earnestly, amber doe eyes filled with plea. He almost gave in before he remembered why he had put in so much effort to secure this precious article.

"Da~ You can give me yourself!" Ivan responded without an ounce of hesitation.

The amber eyes flamed with rage as the rosy glow on Yao's cheeks deepened.

"How dare you! How dare you! How dare you!" Yao shouted as he attacked Ivan all over with his bag, drawing curious and amused glances from several students around them. "I'm not going to sleep with you for a stuffed toy aru!"

"Yao~ Calm down! You misunderstood me!" Ivan cried as he tried to take cover under a bush. "I meant that I would give you the doll in exchange for your company. I only had a movie and dinner date in mind. Nothing indecent. I swear on my water pipe!"

"Oh," Yao's bag froze in midair. A wave of relief rushed over him, closely followed by embarrassment at his own dirty thoughts and guilt for having maligned Ivan when all he harbored were innocent thoughts.

"Don't say such misleading things," Yao muttered as he lowered his bag. A deeply relieved Ivan emerged from under the bushes.

"So you will go on a date with me da? For Kitty-chan's sake?" Ivan held up the doll and moved it's paw up and down. Yao squealed in delight.

"Ooh! Kitty-chan! How can you be so cute aru?" Yao cried as he reached out for the doll. Ivan pulled the doll behind him out of Yao's reach. Yao puffed out his cheeks and pouted.

Oh Yao, how can you be so cute da? Ivan sighed to himself.

"No date, no doll~!" Ivan said firmly.

Yao frowned. The last date with Ivan had been a disaster that not only resulted in him being accused of being a hypocricy but had somehow earned them both the label of school couple. Although Ivan promised that he had nothing more than a date in mind, Yao had a feeling that the Western idea of date could be vastly different from what he himself had in mind. He shuddered at rumours he had heard about people bedding each other on their very first date. Besides, Ivan, for all his moe-ness that was comparable even to Kitty-chan's, had proven to be a wolf in sheep's skin who could still feign innocence right after taking liberties of him. He bristled with anger at that thought.

"Kitty-chan~ Yao doesn't want you da~ Looks like you'll have to go home with me tonight. It's ok though, I'll be a good owner to you. Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan chuckled, pressing the doll so hard that the fur on the mouthless face began to sink in prominently at various spots.

Yao cried out in alarm, "Don't hurt Kitty-chan aru! I agree to your request!"

"Da~! I'm happy to hear that!" he stowed the doll back into his coat. Yao watched longingly until Kitty-chan's white face vanished under Ivan's tan coat.

"You are definitely going to hand her over to me?" Yao asked anxiously.

"Of course I will at the end of the date~ Since when have I ever lied to you da?" Ivan responded sweetly.

Privately, Yao felt that Ivan never had the need to lie, or keep promises to have things his way, but all the same, he asked, "Do I have your promise that this will just be a simple dinner? No touching or kissing or any form of hanky panky?"

"Can I at least hold your hand? That's what people do when they go on dates~" Ivan gazed pleadingly at Yao, his purple eyes glowing with anticipation. Too lost in his fervent gaze, Yao found his head nodding before his brain could consider the implications.

"Yay!" Ivan cheered. Eagerly, he ungloved his hand. Taking Yao's small hand in his large palm, he swung their arms energetically while beaming from ear-to-ear. Yao could not help suppressing a laugh.

"Aiya, does holding my hand delight you so?"

"Of course! Because it's Yao da! I don't mind holding any part of you other than your hand though!" Ivan quipped.

"Well, my hand is the only part of me that you can hold for now aru!" Yao said warningly. Then he wondered why on earth he had bothered adding 'for now' at the back.

"Anything you say da!" Ivan said candidly as he led Yao out of the school gate.

"I must admit, if I'm wearing a hat now, I'd take it off to you. How did you manage to get hold of so many limited and valuable items? How did you even know we like them aru?" Yao voiced the question that had been bugging him since he saw Ivan's presents.

"Indeed, it was one of the greatest challenges in my life," Ivan said solemnly. "I spent many sleepless nights, making inquiries, traveling around and even venturing out of the country," Ivan paused to yawn widely, causing a pang of guilt in Yao. "But seeing your happy faces, especially yours, makes me feel that all my efforts are worthwhile da!" Ivan smiled sappily at Yao, causing him to go scarlet red.

* * *

Several nights ago, Eduard was on MSN when someone on his 'Please Leave Me Alone' contact list initiated a chat.

_Yao-Is-Mine: Eduard, are you good with computers?_

Coolest-Geek: Ivan?

Yao-Is-Mine: ^J^v

Coolest-Geek: I spend loads of time on mine, so I guess I'm pretty good.

Yao-Is-Mine: Great. I want you to hack into these people's computers and online accounts. Wang Yao. Wang Xiang. Im Yong Soo. Honda Kiku. Find out as much about them as possible, esp. their greatest weaknesses. I want the info in half an hour.

Coolest-Geek: O_o

Yao-Is-Mine: Is that a no? You know I'm right next door da? Kolkolkolkol

Coolest-Geek: I'll get on to it now.

You have received a nudge.

Yao-Is-Mine: Done?

Coolest-Geek: Sending files to you now.

Yao-Is-Mine: Ok, don't go away yet. I may need your help again.

Coolest-Geek: #Fu^c&k##U*%!

Yao-Is-Mine: Excuse me?

Coolest-Geek: I accidentally put my elbow on my keyboard.

Yao-Is-Mine: Eduard, the Kimchi Retard is dying for an autographed Rain CD?

Coolest-Geek: That's what he said in his email to his Mum.

Yao-Is-Mine: Who is this Rain?

Coolest-Geek: Let me google that.

Coolest-Geek: Some Korean pop-star who dances very well.

Yao-Is-Mine: So where do I get this autographed CD?

Coolest-Geek: Most people would find such a thing on Ebay.

Yao-Is-Mine: What are you waiting for then?

Coolest-Geek: Am I suppose to look for it? O_o

Yao-Is-Mine: What do you think? Kolkolkolkol

Coolest-Geek: Am on it now.

You have received a nudge.

Yao-Is-Mine: Found anything?

Coolest-Geek: I'm sorry, I've searched everywhere, but I can only conclude that if someone is indeed selling it on ebay, Yong Soo would have snapped it up.

Yao-Is-Mine: In other words, you lied to me when you said "Most people would find such a thing on Ebay"? Kolkolkolkol~

Coolest-Geek: Noo! Ebay really has everything, but I didn't realize it was so rare. I really can't find it. I'm so sorry! (≧ロ≦)

Coolest-Geek: ?

Coolest-Geek: ?

Coolest-Geek: Ivan? If there's nothing else, I'll go to bed first?

Yao-Is-Mine: Just now, I did a search for the Bruce Lee movie that Stiff-Face wanted and the Boy's LovePlus game that Kiku wanted. But I didn't find anything. As for my little sunflower, I don't know what Hello Kitty items he doesn't already have. ( ;´J `;)

Coolest-Geek: Um. For such movies, you'd have better luck with the vintage and classic movie stores. Boy's LovePlus doesn't exist. Kiku just wishes for it to be made. For new Hello Kitty items, you should try Sanrio's official website but Yao probably looks it up regularly.

Seconds later, Eduard's dormitory room door crashed to the ground, the silhouette of a waterpipe imprinted on the splintered wood. Eduard froze in his chair, too stunned to react, while Raivis dived under his bedsheets in fright. Ivan marched over to the man responsible for making him mad and grabbed his collar.

"You are playing the fool with me da?" a purple haze enshrouded Ivan while a frightened Eduard was white with fear.

"It's not his fault that you're too stupid to understand his words," Raivis squeaked from under his bedsheets.

"You wait, Raivis, I'll deal with you later," Ivan bristled. Turning his attention back to Eduard, he suddenly gave a wail.

"WAAAAH! All I want is for Yao to like me~ Am I not fated to have his love? Even the heavens are against me. WAAAAH~~~~!" large droplets of tears rolled down his cheeks. Eduard, for all his dislike for Ivan, felt pity engulf his heart, while Raivis looked uneasy.

"Calm down, Ivan. You always get everything you want. This won't be an exception," Eduard said coaxingly.

"That's right. All you have to do is barge into people's rooms and swing your waterpipe at them and they'll do your bidding," Raivis quipped.

"LATVIA!" Eduard put his face in his palm.

"But Yao wouldn't like it. He doesn't like people who misbehave and use violence on others," Ivan shook his head sadly.

"But if he didn't catch you in the act, he wouldn't know," Raivis said. Eduard groaned, exasperated at the clueless Latvian's sinful encouragement.

"Raivis is right da~" Ivan promptly stopped crying. "Can you find me Rain's home address?"

"Erm, why would you need Rain's address?" Eduard asked, dreading the answer.

"So that I can barge into his house and swing my waterpipe at him and he'll give me his autographed CD da~! Kolkolkolkol~"

"I... I'll try," Eduard wiped a drop of perspiration from his brow, silently congratulating the Korean tabloids for the juicy article they would have the next day about the Korean star's assault by a fanatical male Russian fan.

"And you can do that to Bruce Lee's family too! Surely they have all his movies," Raivis nodded.

"Stop giving him ideas!" Eduard scolded.

"What's wrong with giving me ideas? Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan brandished his waterpipe menacingly.

"N... nothing!" Eduard trembled. "I just thought that this wouldn't work for Kiku's and Yao's case."

"That's easy da~ You're good with computers right? Designing an expansion based on an existing game shouldn't be difficult~" Ivan beamed expectantly at Eduard.

"But I don't know how to program computer games!" Eduard protested.

"Then learn," Ivan's huge frame loomed menacingly over the Estonian.

"Yessir!" Eduard squeaked.

"As for the Hello Kitty doll, I already have the perfect design in mind combining Yao's love for Kitty and pandas. All I need is Raivis' help to realize my design~" Ivan turned to Raivis with a childlike smile.

"Eep! Are you asking me to make it?" Raivis gulped. "But I'm terrible with craft work! I can't sew on a button without making my fingers bleed!"

"Better yours than mine da? Kolkolkolkol~"

* * *

"Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan chuckled at the memories behind his 'greatest challenges', emitting a chill that made Yao shiver visibly.

"Feeling cold?"

Ivan detached his hand from Yao's grip and placed his arm around Yao's shoulders. Then he took Yao's hand in his free hand and smiled gently at Yao. Yao gave him a startled glance, but made no show of protest.

"You're so thin, you should wear warmer clothes da," Ivan said as he gave Yao's shoulder a little squeeze.

"It's usually never this cold aru," Yao pouted.

"Don't worry, I'll warm you up da~"

**To be continued...**

* * *

**BEHIND THE SCENES**

Ivan: Well, this was a long chapter, wasn't it? H-chan was having issues keeping the part about me bribing Kiku, Yong Soo and Xiang short. But explanations had to be given, so in the end, there was very little Rochu action in this chapter. I feel sorry about that, but we'll make up for it in the next chapter. It will be solely Rochu, no interruptions! Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: I shudder to think about it aru. And really, do I look like such a Kitty-chan fanatic? Why does H-chan make me out like... some 5-year-old little girl who just got a pink party dress for Christmas?

Kitty-chan: Why Hallo Thar

Starry-eyed Yao: Kitty-chan~~~~~~~

Ivan: Totally proves my point. Mind you, I'd have murdered that stupid cat if Yao's reaction to it wasn't so cute. Of course, it is my ultimate goal to make Yao use this reaction on me instead. Apart from World Domination. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: What did you say aru?

Ivan: Nothing da~ So let's talk about this chapter~! Is everyone touched by what I did? I'm such a devoted sweetheart if I may say so myself~ I feel so proud!

Yao: How can you feel proud when you made Eduard and Raivis do all the work. It's so insincere aru!

Ivan: But it takes time and effort for me to threaten them da?

Yao: I bet you enjoyed that aru.

Ivan: All the same, I wouldn't have done it for anyone else but you~ But there are more serious things to worry about. Like Kiku's obsession for LovePlus. Do you know that it is a real dating sim game where players can interact with the characters as though they're their girlfriends? So much so that grown men in Japan have actually exchanged marital vows with game characters in LovePlus!

Yao: What! And you bought the game for him aru! I don't want a virtual character for my brother-in-law aru!

Ivan: Well, that's what happens when people are sexually repressed. That's why you should set your desires free da~

Yao: What desires? I haven't got any desires aru.

Ivan: There you go, suppressing your desires again. But don't worry, as your Vanya, I'll help you set your desires free~ Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Why are you undressing me? Where are you putting your hands? Stop!

**In the Next Chapter:** Ivan brings Yao out on a movie and dinner date, violating Yao's ground rules of 'no kissing and touching' in more ways than one. The secret behind Yao's obsession with Kitty-chan is also revealed!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	20. Like and Don't Like

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 20: Like and Don't Like**

Ivan never thought the day would come so soon when he and his angel would snuggle up together in romantic darkness. His heartbeat quickened as Yao leaned against his chest, quivering in his embrace and whimpering, occasionally screaming into his ear. Ivan pressed his lips lovingly against Yao's soft black hair.

"You always smell so good," Ivan sighed as he delighted in the scent of peonies issuing from the silken strands.

"Ah! N...nooo! Stop! Stop it...!" Yao wrapped his fingers around Ivan's scarf so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

"There there, don't be afraid, it will be over in a bit," Ivan whispered consolingly. His lips traveled from Yao's hair to his soft cheeks, where he left a wet smooch.

"N...noo! Please! Not that! I can't take this anymore," Yao sobbed piteously. He pushed against Ivan and fought to get away from him, but Ivan only tightened his arms around his writhing companion, determined to make him stay on his lap.

"We've already gotten this far, it would be a pity to stop da?" Ivan said huskily.

"Ahh...!" Yao's agitated whimpers gave way to a loud scream that made Ivan avert his head instinctively.

"Oi!" Gilbert shouted at the noisy couple from his seat which was right in front of Yao's. Ivan glared at him with intense dislike as Gilbert stared daggers back at him, one leg planted unceremoniously on top of the back of his own seat.

"Oresama is watching a movie!" he jabbed a thumb at himself. "The cinema doesn't belong to you! Stop making nuisances of yourselves and get a fucking room already!"

Yao turned his tear-stained face to the angry German in surprise. Catching a glimpse of the horror on the big screen that had been the culprit for his tears, Yao let out another frightened scream and buried his face in Ivan's scarf. Gilbert smacked his forehead in exasperation while Ivan chuckled softly and stroked Yao's back gently.

"You keep him quiet, or else...!" Gilbert snarled as he made a cutting motion in the air.

Ivan did not think well of this violent threat. Calmly, but lips twitching slightly, Ivan replied, "The cinema doesn't belong to you either. You don't have the right to tell us what to do."

"The hell I don't! You come to the cinema to watch a movie, not to have sex!" Gilbert retorted angrily.

Several members of the audience nodded in agreement, though one cheeky man quipped, "Nii-san will forgive you if you go to the front and entertain us with free porn," inciting a chorus of laughter and appreciative claps.

Yao jerked up his head in shock. "We're not having sex! What ever gave you such a sordid idea aru!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Like hell you're not! Who ever watches a movie sitting on top of someone else's crotch? Not to mention, the noise pollution you're contributing!"

Yao glanced downwards. Realizing that he was indeed sitting on Ivan's lap in a very suggestive pose, he hastily flung Ivan's arms off him and clambered off his thighs in a fluster.

"Aiya! How dare you! What did I say about no hanky panky?" Yao fumed. He wished that what looked like the entire audience in the theater would stop staring at him and put their eyes back on the screen.

"But you climbed into my lap yourself~" Ivan whined, feeling maligned.

"Nonsense! Why would I do such a thing aru!" Yao protested. The thought of him being so forwardly indecent was simply unthinkable.

"Nii-san saw you jump into Ivan's lap when the ghost appeared~" Francis quipped, a couple of rows above Yao's seat. "Smart of you to do that during the climax when everybody else was distracted, but I still saw what you did there," he winked when Yao turned around and stared at him. "I just wished I had a better view than the top of your heads, but from your sound effects, it wasn't hard to picture what you were doing."

For once, Ivan felt a rush of affection for Francis while Yao felt his face turn hot with embarrassment. Unable to bring himself to look at Francis' leery face, Yao turned back to Ivan and vented his anger on him.

"All right! I admit that it was my fault. All the same, you should have done the right thing and pushed me off your lap!"

"Oh you're so innocent, ma jolie, would a wolf chase away a cute little lamb that wandered willingly into its lair?" Francis chortled. "Nii-san would have done exactly the same thing..."

"Excuse me?" a purple haze surrounded Ivan as all gratitude towards Francis vanished.

"Eep! Sorry Ivan, Nii-san was complimenting you for your intelligence, please don't hurt me!" Francis squeaked and shielded his face with his hands.

"I don't fucking care who initiated the sex," Gilbert shouted. "If you want to continue, get out and find a room!"

"We were not having sex aru!" Yao cried.

"_Touche touche!_ I sense jealousy from a bitter bachelor~" Francis clicked his tongue.

"Ha! Who's a bitter bachelor? Oresama is perfectly happy alone! Anyway, I see that you came to watch the movie alone too!" Gilbert shot back.

"Maybe you both should get together," someone suggested.

"Bah! Oresama doesn't need bums like that in my awesome life!" Gilbert scoffed.

"Actually Nii-san doesn't mind~ Come on, why not? I have such a beautiful body!" Francis did a pirouette and promptly began stripping off his own clothes.

"Put your damned clothes back on you bastard!" A familiar brusque voice rang out from several rows in front.

"Oh Arthur mon cherie! Did you come alone too? Poor dear, let nii-san accompany you," Francis stopped stripping mid-way and began climbing over someone's head to get to the source of the brusque voice.

"cosh ngout terp eesh datin' de heero" Alfred grunted between munches of hamburger.  
(Translation: Course not, derp, he's dating the Hero!")

"Alfred you disgusting bastard! Stop showering me with hamburger you baka!" Arthur protested loudly.

"Boohoohoo! Even Arthur has abandoned nii-san! Why doesn't anyone appreciate my beautiful body!" Francis wailed as he resumed his stripping.

"Who's the bitter bachelor now? Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah..." Gilbert sang childishly.

"'scuse me m' wife n' I are try'g to w'tch the mo'v..."

A booming voice recognizable as the Dean Roma's stunned everyone into silence, "SHUT UP YOU STUPID BRATS! I'M TRYING TO ENJOY MY QUICKIE WITH GERMANIA!"

* * *

The restaurant that Ivan had chosen was a quaint and cozy little cafe that served authentic Russian dishes. It was a little far and out of the way from the mall and as Yao was famished, they had to hail a cab to get there. Yao had insisted that they find a place where they would not run into anybody familiar and Ivan happily complied, pleased that his angel shared his desire for a romantic date with no interference.

"Is this place to your liking?" Ivan asked after the motherly-looking cafe owner had taken their orders and bustled off to prepare their food.

"It's really nice," Yao nodded as he surveyed the cafe with satisfaction and slight amusement. The cafe certainly lived up to its name of Sunflower Field. The wallpaper was printed with sunflowers, and pots of sunflowers decorated every corner of the cafe. Even the table mat on their table was a sunflower crochet. "How did you find this place aru?" he asked.

Ivan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... I can't remember da~ I just felt very lonely one night because everyone in school had friends and I didn't, so I went out for a long walk and somehow, I stumbled upon this place. It's lovely da~ The food reminds me of my mother's cooking and the owner doesn't look at me as though I'm a monster. But she is a very quiet lady and doesn't talk to me much, so I still feel lonely when I come here," Ivan sighed wistfully.

Yao felt a twinge of pity as Ivan gave him a sad smile. Patting Ivan's pale blonde hair, he said consolingly, "Well, if you like, I'll come here with you next time aru."

Ivan's face lit up like a sunflower that had bloomed spectacularly. He seized Yao's hands in his own and cried, "Would you really? I just knew you would make such an offer! Yao always treats me the best da~" Before Yao could react, he reached across the table and planted a kiss on Yao's startled lips.

"Aiya!" Yao exclaimed as he tried to brush Ivan's hands away. "What did I say about no touching and kissing? This is twice you've stepped out of line aru!"

"But the first time wasn't my fault! You climbed onto my lap yourself da~ So it's only polite that I return your affection~!" Ivan said gaily as he held on firmly to Yao's hands.

"Rubbish! You know full well that I did that because the ghost scared me aru!" Yao snapped as he struggled to dislodge his hands from Ivan's steadfast grip.

"But you chose me instead of the person on your other side, so I must be special to you da?"

"I was sitting next to the aisle aru!"

In the midst of their tug-of-war with Yao's hands, the café owner turned up with two steaming bowls of borscht and a large plate of white bread, clearing her throat apologetically. Yao tugged his hands away from a distracted Ivan and the waitress laid their table.

"This smells delicious!" Yao took a deep whiff of the broth and sighed happily. "All that shouting and getting scared really made me hungry!"

Cheered up at the prospect of filling his empty stomach, Yao forgot his unhappiness with Ivan and immediately began tearing up a piece of white bread. Ivan smiled indulgently at Yao - He looked so cute when he attacked his food - and proceeded to begin on his own borscht.

"Yao," Ivan said when Yao had stopped to take a sip of water, "do you always jump into people's laps when you watch horror films?"

Yao choked on his water and Ivan had to thump his back for him.

"Don't... don't make me out like such an indecent person aru!" Yao spluttered. "I usually watch horror movies alone!"

"Really?" Ivan asked, surprised. "Weren't you going to watch the movie with your cousins and brother today?"

"Well, I was really surprised when Kiku invited me to watch the movie with them. Of course, that was before I knew that it was just a ploy to get me to go out with you," Yao gave Ivan a dirty look. "I love horror movies, but nobody likes watching them with me because they find my reaction embarrassing. I always watch the dvds alone at home or in my dormitory in the company of my Kitty-chan plushies." Yao felt his face flush as he divulged his weak point to Ivan. Indeed, everyone found his fear of ghosts and intense interest in them ridiculous. Only Kitty-chan would allow him to hug and hide behind her without laughing at him.

Ivan did not laugh, but merely grinned wider and said, "I see~ If you want to watch horror movies, I can watch them with you da~ I'll even let you sit on my lap~"

"No, thanks, Kitty-chan is good enough for me," Yao said curtly as he resumed his eating.

"Yao seems to like Kitty-chan very much," Ivan remarked, feeling slightly put-out.

Yao narrowed his eyes. "Why? Do you think it's funny just like everyone else does?"

"If you like Kitty-chan, I believe you have a good reason da~ I just want to understand you better, because you're my boyfriend~" Ivan smiled innocently.

Yao scowled at him, but knowing that it was a waste of breath to deny their non-existent relationship, proceeded to explain his obsession with the mouthless cat.

"My parents are in the property business and they are always out of the country to discuss business deals. To make sure that I didn't get up to any mischief, they enrolled me for all sorts of private classes. English, Abacus, Poetry, Calligraphy, Painting, Chinese Dance..." Yao paused and made a face. "Xiang was very young and I hardly had any companions my age. So when my Aunt from Japan brought Kiku along to visit, I was delighted. He gave me a really adorable Kitty-chan plush for a meeting gift. It was love at first sight and we got along like a house on fire aru."

Ivan's smiling face darkened into a puzzled frown. Yao hastily clarified, "Love at first sight for Kitty-chan and getting along like a house on fire with Kiku, I mean."

Ivan's smile was all summery again and Yao continued his story. "When Kiku returned to Japan, I lost my only confidant, so I turned to Kitty-chan instead. She's a great listener, unlike my pet panda who always ambles away when I don't have any food for him," Yao pouted adorably.

Resisting the urge to plant a kiss on the succulent lips, Ivan nodded smilingly. "Da~ Kitty-chan was a good friend to Yao~ No wonder you like her so much that you'd actually agree to go on a date with someone like me for her sake." Ivan's smile withered away once again, and melancholy filled his face.

"Aiya! For heaven's sake, I didn't date you because of Kitty-chan! Honestly, what do you take me for aru! I don't just go out with anyone for a stuffed toy you know!" Yao snapped, feeling insulted that Ivan thought him to be such a superficial person. Regardless of how much he liked Kitty-chan, he would never sacrifice his principles and dignity to date someone he did not like. Oh wait...

Ivan seemed to share Yao's sentiments. All smiles again, he took hold of Yao's hand gratefully and cried, "So you're dating me because you really like me da? Oh, I'm so happy!" Ivan brought Yao's hand up towards his own face and pressed the warm palm against his own cheek, enjoying the feel of its soft and smooth surface. His feelings of bliss were rudely interrupted by a hard pinch on his cheek.

"Aiya!" Yao snatched his hand back in annoyance. "Stop dreaming aru! I never said that! Don't put words in my mouth!"

"Ah! I get it! You love me da?" Ivan asked happily as he rubbed the sore spot where Yao had pinched him.

"I can sue you for libel!" Yao snapped.

"I'm sorry for belittling your love~ You love me very much da?" he blinked innocently.

"For heaven's sake!" Yao was almost tearing his hair in exasperation. "I neither like you nor love you nor love you very much aru!"

"Oh~! So you love me very very..."

"Ivan Braginski," Yao said sternly. "This isn't funny."

"But you just said that you didn't date me because of Kitty-chan, and that you don't just date anyone. So I must be someone special da?" Ivan whined.

"No, you're not anyone special!" Yao snapped.

"Then why are you dating me? You just said you wouldn't date just about anyone!"

"Well, you're not just 'anyone', but that doesn't make you special aru!" Yao cried.

"Explain," Ivan said huffily.

"You're not just anyone, because you're someone I know, someone I've spoken with, someone I'm..." Yao hesitated for a moment to search for the right word. "Concerned about. In other words, you're a friend. A normal friend," Yao emphasized the last line.

"But you have lots of friends da~ And you chose me over them. Do you like me more than you like them? Doesn't that make me special?" Ivan argued.

"No! It's because you threatened me with Kitty-chan!" Yao snapped.

"But you said you didn't date me because of Kitty-chan. Were you lying?" tears filled his violet eyes, much to Yao's trepidation.

"No I wasn't!" Yao cried as he hastily grabbed a napkin to mop Ivan's teary eyes. Taking a deep breath, he explained as clearly and slowly as he could, "What I meant was, you asked me out, and on top of that, you threatened me with Kitty-chan, so due to these combined factors, I decided to agree to go on a date with you. I would probably have dated you even if you didn't threaten me with Kitty-chan. I don't go dating people over stuffed toys aru!"

"So you dated me because you like me da~" Ivan gave him a watery smile.

"No... well, I mean, yes. Yes," Yao sighed as he absent-mindedly used the tear-stained napkin to wipe the perspiration on his brow. "But mind you, I like you in the same way I like Kitty-chan, not in the same way that I love my family..."

"Da! I just knew that Yao loves me! I love Yao too!" Without waiting for Yao to finish his sentence, Ivan had reached across the table and pressed his lips against Yao's small, startled ones. He slid his tongue inside the now all-too-familiar cavern, taking in the delightful combination of bortsch and the taste of Yao. Mmm... Yao-flavoured bortsch. There could not possibly be a tastier type of bortsch in the world.

"Ivan Braginski!" Yao exclaimed when he had escaped from Ivan's clutches. His angry lecture was disrupted by a standing ovation.

"Oh my... that... that was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," the cafe owner, who had been sitting queitly behind the counter, was on her feet as she wiped her tears. "Stay for dessert, won't you? My treat."

"Thank you da~!" Ivan beamed sunnily.

* * *

After dessert, Ivan and Yao left behind a cheerful cafe owner who was delighted with Ivan's generous tip and headed out into the cool night.

"Where shall we go next?" Ivan caught hold of Yao's unwilling hand and interlocked their fingers.

"You can go where ever you want to alone. I'm going back," Yao said curtly.

"Aww~ Are you still unhappy? But isn't love the most beautiful thing in the world? Unless, of course, you feel that loving me or to be loved by me is something to be ashamed of," Ivan sighed.

"Aiya! That isn't it aru!" Yao cried. He could hardly believe that such a thick-skinned guy could be so sensitive. "I have a project to rush over the weekend and I need to sleep early tonight! Besides, how can I go into a relationship with you when all I know about you is that you're a bully who terrorizes your schoolmates and teachers? That's hardly what I expect from my future spouse! My ideal lover is someone who's kind, gentle, generous, modest and tolerant, gets along with my friends and family, listens to me and respects my opinion when I say no..."

Yao's voice trailed off when he saw Ivan's eyes glazing over with tears.

"Well, personality traits can always be changed if you make the effort," Yao said in a bid to comfort him.

"It's not that I can help it~ Everyone avoids me and is mean to me. Nobody wants to be my friend and nobody wants to tell me why," Ivan pouted pitifully.

"Well," Yao said thoughtfully, "If you are as nice to me as you are to others, I'm sure you'd have many friends."

"But I only want to be nice to Yao, because Yao is the only one who's nice to me~ And if Yao likes me, I don't care if nobody else does da~" Ivan chirped.

In spite of the cold weather, Yao felt a rush of warmth cruise through him, heating up his face especially.

"But wouldn't it be nice to have more friends? You can't expect everyone to live up to your expectations, but if you learn to accept them, you'll find that tolerance breeds harmony," Yao said. "I used to dislike my fellow student councilors. Arthur never has a smile for anyone but his imaginary friends, Alfred is nosy and bossy and Francis streaks whenever he feels hot which is like most of the time. But overlooking their faults, I came to learn that they're rather nice people and we now get along most of the time aru."

"Poor Yao~" Ivan cried sympathetically. "And you had to be in the same room with all of them. Wouldn't it simplify things if I just teach them a lesson with my waterpipe? Kolkolkolkol~"

"And that's why you have no friends," Yao rolled his eyes.

"Like I said, I don't care if I have no friends, as long as I have you~" Ivan boldly placed an arm around Yao's shoulders and pecked him on the cheek.

"Aiya! Stop that already aru!" Yao cried as he pushed Ivan away.

The initially long and boring walk back to school felt immensely shortened as Yao led Ivan in a game of catch. All too soon they had reached the front of the Asian dormitory building. Yao detached himself from Ivan's embrace.

"We've reached. Where's Kitty-chan?" Yao demanded.

"Here you go~" Ivan retrieved the precious doll from inside his coat and handed it to Yao. Yao gave a whoop of delight. He grabbed the doll and planted kisses all over her furry face.

"Aiya Kitty-chan~ You look even cuter now that I'm seeing you up-close aru!" Turning to Ivan, he gushed, "Thank you, Ivan! Thank you so much!"

Ivan felt his heart race. He never knew that it felt so rewarding, so stimulating, so exciting, to be thanked, especially by someone he liked so much. Impulsively, he pulled Yao against himself and enveloped his lithe body in his arms.

"Hey!" Yao protested as Ivan rested his chin on his shoulder. Ivan's soft blond hair tickled his neck, but apart from that mild discomfort, Yao felt rather at ease. Ivan was such a big baby. Yao could not help but run his fingers through Ivan's soft strands of hair as he smiled to himself. He could not fathom why anyone would dislike such an adorable boy. Silently, they held on to each other for a long while, until Yao grew impatient and grumbled, "All right, that's enough! Don't go overboard!"

"Aww~ But your body feels so good that I was about to fall asleep!" Ivan complained.

"Aiya! What nonsense are you saying!" Yao cried as his face grew hot from the scandalous proclamation. "If you want to sleep, go back to your dormitory aru!" he snapped.

"All right~ But I want to give you a good night kiss in thanks for the wonderful date!" Ivan declared. He sounded so genuine and sincere that Yao, who was on the verge of shouting down his request, relented and said tetchily, "All right! But on one condition! Leave my lips alone aru!"

"Da~! Close your eyes!" Ivan said happily. Yao closed his eyes, combing his bangs away from his forehead as he did so. The men in Yong Soo's Korean dramas always kissed their girlfriends on the forehead at the end of a date...

Yao gave a start when he felt his collar loosen around his neck. He opened his eyes and was horrified to see Ivan unbutton the top of his shirt.

"What are you doing?" Yao cried. He grabbed Ivan's wrist and tried to pull it away, but Ivan was too quick. In a split second, he had pinned Yao's wrists behind his back with one hand. His free hand embracing Yao's slender waist, he latched his lips against Yao's ivory neck and kissed it aggressively.

"Nnh...! Don't... stop...!" Yao cried, struggling helplessly. It had been a long time since he had been inflicted with such fear in the company of the seemingly reformed polar bear.

"Don't worry, I won't stop..." Ivan whispered into his ear, having misinterpreted his incoherent cries. He continued his loving assault, kissing, licking, sucking and nibbling until he left his own mark.

"OW!" Yao cried out in pain as the metallic smell of blood wafted into his nose. Ivan relinquished his grip, shocked at his misdeed. Yao's eyes were drawn to the unnatural redness on Ivan's lips.

"You bit me!" Yao roared as he drew his hand to the stinging sensation on his neck. His fingers touched warm, sticky liquid. "Do you really think you're a bear?" he spat.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ivan apologized frantically. "I didn't do that on purpose. I followed Big Sister 801's guide on giving love bites. I don't know what went wrong. Let me kiss it better!" He closed in on Yao, but received a cuff on his head by the furious Chinese.

"That's enough! Don't touch me, you pervert! I trusted you implicitly but you betrayed my faith in you! That was more than just a kiss aru!" Yao exclaimed as he buttoned back his collar with shaky fingers.

"I'm really sorry!" Ivan cried. "I just wanted to show my love for you. Big Sister 801 said that love bites are romantic and promote healthy relationships da~!"

Yao screwed up his eyes in disgust. "That was really indecent. It's the sort of thing you do behind closed doors with your spouse! And for heaven's sake, stop quoting that twisted fujoshi! Her books are banned on campus! How dare you read her books and even follow her unorthodox teachings! Her ideas about romance are just so perverted! I don't understand why people even like reading her books! It would do your brain so much more good if you hand over her foul books to the school authorities," Yao said furiously.

"If I hand the book over to you, will you forgive me?" Ivan put on his mournful puppy dog look. Yao, who had intended to shoot him an absolute 'No', felt some of his anger dissipate.

"I don't know," Yao said coldly. He turned his back on him, bent over to pick up Kitty-chan who had fallen onto the ground during their tussle, and dusted her with his hands. "Let's go back, Kitty-chan~ It's been such a long day for me~"

Without as much as a backward glance, he stormed off through the dormitory gate.

"You only said to leave your lips alone~" Ivan cried, stung at the injustice of it all.

**To be continued...**

* * *

**BEHIND THE SCENES**

Yao: Aiya! It's been so long! I thought we were out of job aru!

Ivan: Da~ It's been such a long time! Almost two months! Did you all miss us? I missed all of you~ But most of all, I missed molesting my little sunflower in public~ I bet all of you missed me doing that too da?

Yao: Aiya! Don't say such indecent things aru! H-chan has worked us so hard this time! This chapter is 10 pages long on Word document aru!

Ivan: It's to make up for the long hiatus da~ H-chan was very busy moving house you see~ And she has been busy planning for an anime con. Recently, she also decided to make a new Deviant Art subscriber's account because there was a fifty percent discount and upload all her fanfictions to it. Now being her usual meticulous self, she decided to proof-read and edit all those fics before posting them and that of course, that took up a fair bit of time. Naturally, we're obliged to advertise it here for here. Haragurotan is her username on Deviant Art. If you're on DA too, do go and say Hi!

Yao: What a time-waster! I went without salary for two months aru!

Ivan: Aww~ My poor little sunflower. Did you starve? I did offer you myself and my Vodka cellar you know. For me, I wasn't too badly affected. I had Vodka and Yao for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper and that was good enough for me.

Yao: Shut up! Idiot! Let's talk about this chapter.

Ivan: Oh yes let's do~

Yao: In this chapter, H-chan has made an attempt to give some background on me and my personality in person. Of course most of it is nonsense. I'm not like that at all.

Ivan: Whether you're out of character, we'll let the readers judge~

Yao: Ivan the perverted wild bear strikes again.

Ivan: Always a pleasure da~ By the way, just in case you're wondering, I'm actually very experienced at giving love bites. Yao is my favourite subject to practice on. Kolkolkolkol~ It was so difficult for me to act like a noob. I think I accidentally bit Yao too hard~

Yao: Yes you rouge. I've still got a bandage over it aru!

Ivan: Aww you poor thing~ Let me give you a proper love bite on the other side to soothe the pain da?

Yao: No thank you! Can we stop talking about love bites?

Ivan: All righty~ Did anyone feel cheated by the introduction? I thought it was a sex scene in the cinema. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Only dirty-minded people would be cheated aru.

Ivan: To be honest, I was too excited after seeing the first few lines that I didn't read the rest of the script. I was so furious when Gilbert suddenly shouted in the darkness~

Yao: *wipes sweat drop* H-chan had a very narrow escape. I wouldn't have rescued a pervert like her if she wasn't still holding on to my salary.

Ivan: The good news is, I've decided to forgive her because she has planned another smut production for Christmas and my Birthday! Ypa!

Yao: Oh no not another one!

Ivan: It's called 'The Last Virgin Christmas'. And just check out this synopsis: "Ivan invites Yao to his house for their first Christmas celebration together and convinces his innocent lover to part with his chastity in spirit of giving. Set in the early days of their alliance, when Christmas is banned in Soviet Russia, but pursuing the romantic mood of Christmas is fortunately not." Aww~ Our first time together and H-chan wants to make it public. I feel shy but honored at the same time~ Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: This is bad... and you shy? How unlikely!

Ivan: However, because this is for a secret santa exchange on Deviant Art, it will be first posted on her Deviant Art page before being posted here. If H-chan doesn't manage to come and post up anything here before Christmas, here's wishing you a Merry Christmas in advance~!

Yao: And that's why I hate Christmas! On a happier note, 205 reviews for Taming the Polar Bear! Even I feel happy about this. All my sacrifices have not been in vain!

Ivan: Thank you so much! We know how much you enjoy it when I molest Yao. So I will definitely keep up the good work! Kolkolkolkol~ Our next target is 300 reviews!

Yao: Well yes, in spite of how perverted all of you are, I thank you for your support. Please continue to leave your precious reviews so that I may get a pay rise and build more Chinatowns around the world aru.

Ivan: Don't forget to review this chapter da~! Please look forward to the next one!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	21. The Trouble from the Counterfeit Kitty

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

* * *

**Chapter 21: The Trouble from the Counterfeit Kitty-chan**

When Yao stormed back to his dormitory room which he shared with Xiang minutes after Ivan's lecherous assault, he felt his blood pressure rise up further when he saw his cousins and brother enjoying the gifts that had been the very reason for his anger.

Xiang perched on the edge of his single bed, his eyes following intently the powerful martial arts moves of Bruce Lee, occasionally punching his fist in the air and cheering him on. Kiku lay sprawled out on Yao's bed, playing his computer game. Yao noticed with a pang that he had not even bothered to remove his shoes. Yong Soo stood in front of his stereo set which was blasting Korean pop music, mimicking a jelly fish lumbering around in water, although he was in fact, trying to dance a Rain number.

"Hello aniki, back so soon? We weren't expecting you until midnight at least," Yong Soo greeted him cheerfully, having been the only one who spotted him since the stereo set was right in front of the door.

Midnight eh? Yao seethed. So this was indeed a conspiracy to get him into the perverted polar bear's bed. The ingrates. To think that he had been as kind to them as a parent would. Never before now had he found Yong Soo's silly grin and shaking butt so repulsive. Before he realized what he was doing, he had grabbed a pillow and was smacking Yong Soo all over with it at every spot that he could reach.

"Ingrates! Traitors! Beasts! I treated you like my own flesh and blood and you betrayed me for your own superficial interests! Grandpa would turn in his grave if he could see what disappointments you are!" Yao raged as he rained powerful blows on Yong Soo, his slender arms exhibiting a surprising amount of strength and dexterity.

Desperate to escape Yao's furious assault, Yong Soo stumbled towards Yao's bed and in his failure to sustain his balance, fell heavily on top of Kiku. Before Kiku could so much as utter a cry of protest, his eyes were seeing stars resulted from a forceful blow on his head from a pillow. Yao continued to pummel his cousins mercilessly, ignoring their cries of "No, Yao-nii!" and "Stop, aniki! Pillow fights originate from Korea da-ze!"

Yao was on the verge of beating out all their living daylights when a pair of arms encircled him from behind, pinning his arms to his side so that he could not continue his attack.

"Da Ge! Calm down!" Xiang implored to his struggling brother.

"And you, Xiang!" Yao seethed, "I spend all my holidays building up half your collection of Bruce Lee movies but you won't even help me with my Hello Kitty collection! And now all that perverted bear had to do was bribe you with one miserable DVD and you're giving your own brother to him! You're heartless!" Yao elbowed Xiang, but the attack was useless on Xiang, who could control his _qi_ well due to his training at martial arts classes and block out forceful hits without releasing his grip.

After much fruitless struggling, Yao finally gave up and let his arms fall limply by his side. Being angry was exhausting and it had been ages since he had tried to hit anyone so hard.

"All right, you win. You're all grown up. I can't even teach you a lesson even if I want to aru," Yao said tiredly as he sagged against Xiang.

"No one's trying to win or disobey you," Xiang said calmly.

"That's right, Yao-nii. You've misunderstood our intentions," Kiku said earnestly, eager to pacify Yao before he decided to blow up again. "We only had the best intentions in mind when we set up the date for you and Ivan. After all, you treat us like your own flesh and blood, so it's only right that we repay your kindness."

"If he treats us like his own flesh and blood, how come he nearly killed us while Xiang got away unscathed?" Yong Soo grumbled as he tried to smooth out his flattened, battered strand of idiot hair that was now drooping sadly against his face.

"I've always had better reflexes," Xiang answered matter-of-factly.

"Be quiet and stop adding fuel to the fire," Kiku hissed. Turning to Yao with the sweetest smile he could muster, he said, "Ivan told us that you both quarreled and you were greatly upset but too proud to forgive him, so we tried to help you patch up. Yao-nii is our favourite Nini and if you're unhappy, that makes us unhappy too."

"I love Da Ge more than Papa and Mama," Xiang patted his brother on his head.

"Aniki's breasts are mine da-ze!" Yong Soo flung his arms around Xiang and Yao and hugged them tightly.

"Oh heavens, stop saying such unruly things," Yao admonished Yong Soo, stifling a sniffle as he did so. Kiku pulled out his camera and captured the heartwarming scene.

Moments later, Yao emerged from their embrace, face flushed and eyes watery.

"You boys are embarrassingly mushy aru!" Yao chided half-heartedly as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

Yong Soo beamed proudly all round, "See? Told you I'm Aniki's favourite cousin! Just one hug from me and he's reduced to tears da-ze!"

"We think that Ivan really likes you," Kiku continued with his 'caring cousin' demeanor. "We had a serious discussion and we agreed that Ivan has proven his sincerity by putting in so much effort to get into our good books."

"Obviously that's why you're siding with him. However, he has not gotten into my good books, so I don't see why I should agree with you aru," Yao crossed his arms irritably.

"But isn't he your type?" Kiku wheedled. "Just think of those round puppy dog eyes, innocent smile, moe voice and the way he follows you around like a lost little puppy."

"Kiku-hyung makes aniki sound like a pedophile da-ze," Yong Soo smirked.

"Oh shut up aru, I like cute things but that doesn't make me a pedophile aru," Yao complained. He sank down onto his bed. Yong Soo emitted a sudden scream that made him leap up immediately.

"Blood! Blood! Aniki's bleeding! Oh my goodness Aniki's going to die da-ze!" Yong Soo jumped up and down, pointing a shaking finger at Yao's collar, which sported a circular reddish imprint.

"Be quiet, Yong Soo! Stop screaming about nothing!" Yao snapped. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to see the love bite. He tried to shield the tell-tale mark with his hand, but Xiang grabbed his wrist, preventing him from covering it.

"How can it be nothing when blood has seeped through your clothing?" Kiku chided. "You should treat it before your wound gets infected. How did you get injured at such an odd place anyway?"

Ignoring Yao's nervous spluttering, Kiku unbuttoned his collar and yanked it downwards, revealing two tiny wounds still slightly wet with fresh blood. There was a long moment of awkward silence as everyone stared, entranced by the bizarre injury. Yao stared desperately around his room, trying to draw inspiration for an excuse when all-knowing Kiku came to his rescue.

"Ah, that's the bite of a _kappa_. They're especially prevalent in Autumn. Pesky things, aren't they?" Kiku tipped Yao a big wink.

"Oh. Oh yea. Very sharp teeth they have aru," Yao nodded.

"What are kappa?" Xiang asked, feeling baffled.

"_Kappa_ originates from Korea da-ze!"

"Yong Soo knows. Listen to him," Kiku gave Xiang a slight shove towards the excitable Korean, who immediately launched into a long explanation about how the first _kappa_, or what he thought was _kappa_, was discovered in Korea.

"You owe me one," Kiku mouthed at Yao as he went to retrieve the first aid kit from Yao's bedside drawers.

"Thanks," Yao whispered, quite forgetting that he would not have needed helping if his cousins and brother had not been such busy bodies in the first place.

Yao tried his best not to fidget when Kiku dabbed smarting antiseptic lotion over his wound. He took his new Kitty-chan doll from inside his vest and stroked it absent-mindedly.

"Is that a gift from Ivan?" Kiku asked as he carefully placed a band-aid over the wound.

Yao nodded. "Ivan says that it's custom-made aru."

"Ivan is so good to you. Custom-made Hello Kitties must be expensive. I've never even heard of them!" Kiku smiled as he helped Yao to re-button the shirt.

Yao nodded. "Ivan is a lovable boy, but I wish he'd stop treating me like his lover when I'm not aru!"

"Won't you give him a chance? I've never seen anyone more devoted than Ivan. If you agree to be his boyfriend, you could have a greater say over his behaviour in school. I'm quite sure he'd be more than willing to listen to you," Kiku said wisely. Personally, he was sick of Ivan harrassing him to be their matchmaker and had hoped that once Ivan got what he wanted, he would stop disrupting his life.

"I'm not sure that will work out aru. He never listens to me when I scold him for his sexual harrassment," Yao sulked.

"Maybe he thinks that you're just being tsundere," Kiku suggested.

"Being what?"

"Tsundere. Pretending to be cold and hostile to someone when you actually have affectionate feelings for him," Kiku explained serenely.

"Well that's utter rubbish!" Yao snapped. "You know me, I'm frank and blunt. I could not possibly be capable of such hypocrisy! Is that another one of those stereotypes in your sim dating games? Speaking of that, how about getting yourself a proper boyfriend instead of gluing yourself to a machine? Who's this Heracles person that I keep hearing about? Do you need my help to approach him? You've always been such a shy boy..."

"Uhh that won't be necessary!" Kiku said in alarm. Hastily changing the subject, he said, "Can I have a look at your Kitty-chan? I've never seen a custom-made one in my life although _otousan_ is a partner of Sanrio."

[otousan: Japanese for Father]

"Sure," Yao handed the doll to him.

Kiku inspected the doll carefully. With the presence of stray threads, uneven stitching and slightly lop-sided looking ears, there was no way this doll could be a legitimate product of Sanrio. The crudely sewn on label that said "Made in Latvia" further confirmed Kiku's deduction that this Kitty-chan was a dud. But knowing how Yao would react, he could not let Yao know this.

"The tag states that it belongs to one of the oldest vintage Hello Kitty series. Ivan must have gotten confused. If you'll let me have it for awhile, I can ask _otousan_ to identify it," Kiku said.

"What are you talking about?" Yong Soo's head suddenly appeared over Kiku's shoulder, "The tag just says 'Made in Latvia' da-ze!"

Kiku watched with mortification as Yao's face turned from pallid white to puce.

"AIYA! IVAN BRAGINSKI!"

* * *

Why oh why did Heaven enjoy making sport of mankind?

Ivan never had problems locating the copy of 'A Dummy's Guide to Making your Male Friend Gay for You' which Ludwig had lent to him. Whenever he had nothing to do, the book would somehow materialize in front of him, asking to be read. Yet just this once when he really needed to find the book, it simply refused to be found, even with the combined efforts of Eduard, Raivis, Toris and Feliks searching every nook and cranny of his small dormitory room.

Staring around the room which now resembled the aftermath of a tornado, Feliks stretched his arms and said, "The book doesn't exist. You totally made it up because your date with Wang Yao failed big time and you're like trying to ruin my date with Toris. How selfish of you!"

"My date with Yao was a complete success da!" Ivan said huffily. "And I did not make up the book. I've been reading it for the past few days!" Turning on Toris suddenly and causing the poor man to drop a stack of books on his own feet, he demanded, "Did you take it? Kolkolkolkol~"

"Why, how dare you scare my poor Liet-chan and accuse him of taking it!" Feliks gave Ivan a shove and stood protectively in front of Toris, who winced pitifully while examining the damage on his toes. "As if my Liet-chan would need a guide book on romance when he has me! Duh! Such books are totally meant for failures like you! Ivan Braginski in love! What a joke! Pfft!"

"Feliks!" Eduard shook his head warningly as a purple mist appeared around Ivan's head.

"Calm down Ivan, why don't you go out for a breather while we find the book for you," Eduard said coaxingly.

"Why would the big-nosed jerk need a breather when all he's done is sit on the bed and watch us do all the work," Feliks raged. "I tell you, I wouldn't lift a finger for this bully if my poor Liet-chan wasn't such a total wuss. You let us go now or I'll totally kick your ass!"

The doorbell rang in the nick of time, saving the audacious Pole from a beating by the water pipe.

"Hello Ivan," Ludwig greeted cheerfully when Ivan opened the door. "First of all, Gilbert told me all about what happened at the cinema. Congratulations! Just a week ago, you were fretting about winning Wang Yao's heart and today, you're already engaging in such intimacy in public! Talk about instant results! This will teach all those who scoff at me for relying on guidebooks!" Ludwig said proudly.

"Oh that, yes, thank you for the book da," Ivan replied distractedly.

"So now that you obviously don't need it anymore, may I have it back?" Ludwig revealed his motive for the visit.

"Um…" Ivan fidgeted uncomfortably. "But our relationship is young. I'm sure I'll still need Big Sister 801's guidance da."

"I thought you'd say that," Ludwig smiled. "So I brought another book for you. I think it would be useful, considering the progress of your relationship."

When Ivan took the book and looked at the cover of 'Dummy's Guide to Hot Yaoi Sex by Big Sister 801', he promptly started bleeding from his nose. The cover illustration featured an effeminate-looking man, who bore a startling resemblance to Yao, wearing a short nurse's uniform and a deep blush on his cheeks. He was lying on a hospital bed, hair tousled, with his wrists bound together by bandages. A much larger man with beige-blonde hair, clad in a doctor's white coat bent over his helpless nurse with a feral smile on his otherwise angelic-looking face.

"It's Big Sister 801's latest release!" Ludwig said as he stuffed a handkerchief into Ivan's hand. "Did you both model for the cover? That looks awfully like you."

"Do you think so too da?" Ivan gushed. "I wasn't aware of any modeling offers but it probably wasn't hard to get an artist's impression of us. We practically go everywhere together~"

"That's true," Ludwig nodded. "Well, you can have this book. But can I have my other book back now? There is something in there that I have to look up."

"You both are like totally hopeless! Fancy putting your love life in the hands of guidebooks! Pish tosh!" Feliks snorted cynically from behind Ivan, who gratefully accepted the book and put it inside his coat.

"You may laugh," Ludwig said stoutly, "but it's all thanks to my book that Ivan and Yao are such a lovey-dovey couple now. Not to mention, Feliciano and I are practically the model couple in our cohort, even if he's a bit too sticky at times."

"Yea yea," Feliks twirled a golden lock of hair lazily around his finger. "But I don't suppose we'll ever find out how great that book is since the big-nose jerk's like lost it."

The smile on Ludwig's face sagged and anxiety appeared in his calm, blue eyes.

"What! You lost my book? How could you? How am I going to remember how to pacify Feliciano when there's no pasta?" Ludwig tore at his neatly combed-back hair in frustration.

"I'll buy you a new book da. It's not the end of the world," Ivan rolled his eyes. He could not fathom why Ludwig was so upset. If the book had really been such a masterpiece, he would not be fretting over pacifying Yao right now.

"I should have known better than to lend it to you! I penned many of my own personal experiences and inspirations inside, including what to do when there's no pasta. You wouldn't be able to replace them with money!" Ludwig grabbed Ivan's collar in agitation.

Ivan felt his muscles stiffen as defensive mechanisms kicked in. Instinctively, Ivan directed a powerful fist at Ludwig, who covered his eyes and bent over, wheezing in pain. Their shocked audience emitted gasps of surprise.

"Please, you guys, there's no sensibility in coming to blows over a book. We're already trying our best to look for it," Eduard implored, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Ludwig was a stickler for rules, but he was not a very good-tempered man and had no qualms bending a rule to go on the offensive if angered. He threw a well-aimed punch at Ivan's nose, which started to bleed again.

"I thought you seemed better after associating with Wang Yao but I'm clearly mistaken!" Ludwig shouted.

Complete pandemonium reigned in the tiny room as Ludwig and Ivan rolled around on the floor hurling punches at one another. Feliks punched his fists in the air, cheering for Ludwig to "kick Ivan's sorry ass". Raivis chanted with him. Eduard's pleas for calm went unheeded while Toris cradled his aching stomach with his arms. So much so that when Yao let himself in with a severe expression on his face fifteen minutes later, nobody noticed him, along with the crowd of students that had gathered in the corridor because of all the noise.

"Aiya! You're so noisy! I could hear you all the way from outside your building aru! Pipe down or I'll give all of you detention!" Yao shouted.

Reluctantly, Ivan and Ludwig relinquished their grip on each other. They stood up, dusting themselves, neither emerging victorious as both of them sported an equal number of tears on their uniform and bruises on their faces.

"Yao~ He hit me~ It really hurts da~" Ivan ran over to Yao and whined piteously at him.

"He started it first!" Ludwig protested.

"Yea, I can totally vouch for him," Feliks quipped.

Turning his back coldly on Ivan, Yao addressed the group at large, "What exactly was it that caused you two to start acting like hooligans? Can't you act your age and iron things out amicably like adults aru? And I can't believe the rest of you didn't stop them!"

Everyone fell silent, knowing full well that if they revealed the real reason behind their scuffle, everyone in the room would be implicated. Big Sister 801's books were strictly banned on campus. It was a rule that both Yao and Arthur exercised zealously, causing many books to be confiscated and land permanent homes in Professor Roma's office.

A sudden brainwave struck Ivan. He took out the new book that Ludwig had lent him and handed it to Yao.

"We were fighting because I wanted to hand over this book to you as promised but Ludwig wouldn't let me. It belongs to him, you see."

"Why you!" Ludwig seethed. He grimaced helplessly as Yao took the book and looked at it with a disdainful expression. The frown on Yao's face deepened as he studied the cover illustration with deep distaste and concern – why on Earth did it look so familiar when he had never associated himself with such indecent pictures. His deep frown turned to a look of pure horror when the uncanny resemblance of the cover illustration hit him.

"I… Ivan! You… you did this aru!" Yao jabbed his finger agitatedly at the cover as he looked angrier than Ivan had ever seen him.

"Me? But I can't draw da! Art was my worst subject in high school!" Ivan raised both hands into the air in protest.

"Then you must have given a picture to the publisher!" Yao concluded furiously. "How dare you! I have already made very clear to you my thoughts on such indecency aru!"

"Oh please, you can't be so decent yourself if you're like having sex in public in full view of other people," Feliks clicked his tongue. It delighted him to see Ivan in trouble, but he found Yao's hypocrisy to be just as annoying as the violent polar bear.

"What? What… what… I don't know what you're talking about aru! Ivan Braginski! What horrible rumours have you been spreading!" Yao's voice rose sharply.

"I never spread any rumours or sent out any pictures da~" Ivan said tearfully. "Why do you keep accusing me of things I haven't done?"

"Because you've proven yourself to be every bit an unreliable, dishonest, cheating scum!" Yao bristled as he took out his counterfeit kitty-chan doll, the very reason for his visit, and rapped Ivan hard on the head with it. The doll's soft body probably did little to hurt him, but everyone was shocked by Yao's gall, and all the more so by the fact that Ivan was meekly allowing himself to be shouted at and assaulted.

"Do mine eyes deceive me? He's totally not retaliating!" Feliks gasped, a sentiment echoed by everyone as frantic whispering carried through the intrigued audience.

"What did I do now?" Ivan cried, his eyes shining with tears. It almost made Yao feel sorry for remonstrating him, but still, a lie was a lie and could not be excused.

"Look at this! Look at the tag!" Yao shoved the dud Kitty-chan doll into his face.

"Uh… it says 'Made in Latvia'," Ivan squinted at it. He did not know what was so wrong with that. While a lot of things were made in China, surely it was reasonable that there were exceptions. He was about to use that argument in his defense when Raivis spoke up.

"That would be me who did that. I'm from Latvia and many people use that as my nickname too. I hope you like the doll, on account that I had to pick up sewing in a week because Ivan bullied me into it. It may not be as good as the real thing, but I tried my best," Raivis said sincerely.

"LATVIA!" Eduard and Toris cried. Ivan had a strong sense of foreboding.

"You made the doll yourself aru?" Yao asked. Raivis nodded and he held up his hands in affirmation. They were covered with band-aid and bore marks of being pricked by needles.

"You poor thing aru! And you're so cute too!" Yao flung his arms around the little Latvian, whose cheeks turned slightly pink. A jealous Ivan let out an infuriated snarl.

Yao released his grip and smiled at Raivis with motherly benevolence. "I'll treasure this doll, but don't let Ivan take advantage of you again. I'll give you my number and you can call me if Ivan bullies you in future. I'll teach him a lesson for you aru."

"That would be great!" Raivis beamed.

"What? That's not fair!" Ivan cried. "I'm your boyfriend and you won't even give me your number! Yet you're giving it to someone you hardly know! And you even hugged him!"

"You're not my boyfriend! You never were, and you never will be! I will not have a bully and a liar for my boyfriend aru!" Yao said brutally. He hastily keyed his phone number into Raivis' phone and made to leave. The sooner he got away, the better. Ivan looked so woebegone that he feared that his heart would soften if he continued to stay in the same room.

"Yao!" Without warning, Ivan had got down to his knees in front of Yao and flung his arms around Yao's thighs and butt.

"Aiya!" Yao exclaimed. "Where are you touching aru!"

But that was not the worst. To Yao's utmost dismay, Ivan buried his tearful face in, of all places, his crotch.

"Let me go! Let me go aru!" Yao cried desperately. He tugged at Ivan's hair with his hands. He pummeled his back with his fists. He tried to push Ivan's hands away. But Ivan only held on tighter. Yao's desperation grew as he felt Ivan's nose pressing firmly against his vital regions, merely separated by two thin layers of cloth from his pants and underpants. Some students had begun to giggle at the comical scene of Ivan sniveling away at Yao's privates.

"I won't let you go unless you forgive me da," Ivan said in a resolute voice. He rubbed his head against Yao. A tingling sensation cruised through Yao's nether regions, causing him to emit an agitated squeal.

"Stop moving! Someone get him off me aru!"

"If anyone dares to interfere, I'll hit you with my water pipe! Kolkolkolkol~"

"Help me! Or I'll give you detention for refusing to help a fellow student in trouble aru!"

Several students had begun to creep away. Between weeding the peony garden and being attacked by Ivan, they would gladly choose the former, for it would at least guarantee their limbs intact. Although Yao had just promised so stoutly minutes ago that he could teach Ivan a lesson, he could not even free himself from Ivan's clutches. It was best to not offend Ivan since Yao seemed every bit as unreliable as Arthur when it came to putting bullies like Ivan in their place. Even Ludwig had decided not to interfere, shrugging it off as a lover's spat.

"Don't go!" Yao cried as all the students trickled out of the room. The door slammed shut behind Feliks, leaving Yao alone with Ivan. Ivan's lips curled into a triumphant smile. He tightened his embrace around Yao's lower body, as though he would never let go.

**To be continued...**

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**BEHIND THE SCENES**

Ivan: Wow, it's been more than a month since the last update! H-chan is so mean da~!

Yao: Don't exaggerate. It's because she slipped in 'A Christmas Reunion' over Christmas and New Year, remember?

Ivan: Da~ But it doesn't seem very popular although it's R18 ( ;^ J ^; )

Yao: Yes aru. After all the hard work I went through! I mean... not that I care whether people like reading about us having sex, but I even went as far as to offer Ivan a blow-job aru!

Ivan: Ah ha~ Yao's rare dere-dere moment. If you haven't read it, do go and read it and review da~ It pains me to see my little sunflower so upset because nobody else apart from me knows that he gives good blow-jobs~ Although I'd really prefer it that way. Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Who's upset over that aru! Anyway, let's get started on this chapter!

Ivan: Da~ Yao is so fierce in this chapter. It makes me weep T J T

Yao: Well, you would too if you were molested, injured, betrayed by your siblings and cheated all in one day!

Ivan: Aww but that's because I love you da~ Originally, this chapter wasn't supposed to be so long, but I guess H-chan agrees with me that Yao is adorable when he is mad. Kolkolkolkol~ That's why the chapter 'Ivan does the Unthinkable' has been pushed to the next chapter. Sorry about that~ But it will be a sweet chapter that constitutes the turning point of our relationship. I promise you that~

Yao: Hmmph! Well on a happy note, we're happy to see many new readers favouriting our story and leaving reviews aru.

Ivan: But we're also sad that a lot of readers who used to leave comments on this story seem to have disappeared (;^J^;) Has this story lost its appeal?

Yao: It must be H-chan's fault for her constantly late updates.

Ivan: Or maybe it's the exam period da? In any case, we miss you~ Come back soon da~! I promise to do more perverted things to Yao~!

Yao: Nobody's asking you to do that!

Ivan: I'm also pleased to announce that we're again going to embark on another new story in view of February 14th. The official disclosure of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship you know~. It's entitled 'Lovers in the Sunflower Field', and it will be R18~ So look forward to it~ With any luck, H-chan may be able to squeeze in a Chapter 22 for this story before Chinese New Year, although that may be unlikely as she's been so busy now.

Yao: Well, Chinese New Year is in a week's time, so here's wishing everyone a Prosperous Year of the Rabbit! Get lots of red packets aru!

Ivan: And spend them on Rochu doujinshi! Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Nobody's asking you aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	22. A Blessing in Disguise

**Title: Taming the Polar Bear**

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

All characters (C) Axis Powers Hetalia & Hidekaz Himaruya. No part of the story is related to any country, political ideology or real event.

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

I'm soooo sorry for the late update! Lovers in the Sunflower Field took me much longer to write than I expected and then I was busy with all sorts of things. Also, I have recently decided to publish some of my Rochu fanfictions into a book and I have been busy recruiting artists and finding reference pictures for the illustrations. If you're interested, you can find more info here: http: / / deviant art. com / art/Rochu-Our-Secret-History-199927771 (remove spaces). I do not intend to sell the book, but will be giving copies away for free to the artists who contribute their art and to friends and readers who have been regularly reading my fics, encouraging me and inspiring me to improve.

I also had to edit some of my earlier chapters because Yao was getting too tsundere in this story (as some of you have kindly pointed out). I've had to re-read the whole thing and at times, change entire paragraphs and dialogues so that took up quite some time.

Chapters with significant changes:  
Chapter 16: Ivan and Yao are Now a School Couple... Not.  
Chapter 19: Of Bribes and Threats  
Chapter 20: Like and Don't Like

So umm... if you don't mind, you're strongly encouraged to re-read these chapters again XD If not, you just need to know that Yao thinks of Ivan as a friend (this won't last much longer though), not a lover, and hence gets upset when Ivan says that he is his lover or touches him inappropriately. So he is not being tsundere on purpose, nor is he trying to be mean to Ivan.

To those who have stuck with me and continued reading this story despite my horrendously slow updates, I'm really grateful to you. Thank you so much! My attention span is very low and I've never liked anything enough to be in a fandom until now XD So it's really all thanks to you that I'm getting all this inspiration to write my fics ^^ And I really hope that the new readers who have favourited my work but not commented will leave a couple of reviews one day. I'm really interested to know what you think ^^

Right, enjoy the new chapter XD

* * *

**Chapter 22: A Blessing in Disguise**

Yao regretted forbidding Xiang and Kiku to follow him when he stormed out of his dormitory. He had not wanted them to come along lest they speak up for Ivan and possibly soften his resolve to punish the lying imbecile. Now, all he could think of was how Xiang could have saved him from Ivan's clutches with his Martial arts skills if he was here. Not for the last time, he regretted choosing anime art over Martial arts for his extra-curricular activity in college. Bloody deja vu.

"Yao~ Forgive me~" The source of Yao's migraine purred from below, as two tearful, violet round eyes looked up at him dolefully.

"Never aru!" Yao cried. "Release me right now!"

"Oh," Ivan sniffled. "Then I'll remain on my knees until you do."

Ivan went back to pressing his face against Yao's sensitive regions, inciting a groan of exasperation from Yao.

"You can remain on your knees for all you want, but for heaven's sake, let me go aru!" Yao wailed.

"I've said that I won't let you go unless you forgive me. I'm a man of a my word and I have never lied to you, nor do I intend to lie to you da," Ivan said stubbornly as he hugged Yao even harder.

"You lied to me when you said you had Kitty-chan with you aru! And don't touch me there!"

"Did I? But you were the one who started screaming 'Kitty-chan' when I took her out. Since you're supposed to be the expert on Kitty-chan, I assumed that you knew at a glance that she was a dud and that you didn't mind," Ivan defended.

Yao's mind played back to the glorious moment when he first laid his eyes on the cutest Kitty-chan he had ever met. Or what he had thought was Kitty-chan. He remembered with a pang that indeed, Ivan had not suggested in anyway that it was a bona fide Kitty-chan. Yao had taken for granted that it was a real Kitty-chan and pounced on her on his own accord.

"Fine, so that was my mistake aru!" Yao said bitterly. "But you bullied that little boy called Latvia and I dislike that about you!"

Ivan let out an ominous snarl. "Speaking of _Raivis_, I can't believe you hugged a stranger and gave him your phone number when you didn't even know his name. And he's not so little, he's only one year younger than me da!"

"Well, it's none of your business what I do with other people aru. Get your head off my privates!" Yao cried.

"How can it be none of my business when I'm your boyfriend?" Ivan demanded, ignoring Yao's request.

"You're not my boyfriend! I never ever want a bully for a boyfriend!" Yao retorted.

"Yao, you won't forgive me da?" Ivan asked imploringly.

"Seeing that you refuse to admit your mistake, no," Yao replied flatly.

"I see~ Looks like this will go on for a long time da~"

Detaching one arm from Yao's butt and placing his free palm on the floor, Ivan skilfully tipped a startled Yao over his shoulder with his other arm. He carefully balanced Yao on his shoulder and then maintaining a tight grip on Yao's small waist, he slowly stood up.

"Let me down aru! Let me down!" Alarmed that he was now hanging upside down, Yao could do little but scream, kick out his feet and pummel his fists against Ivan's back. His efforts were fruitless as Ivan calmly carried him towards his bunk bed. Soon, he found himself sliding off Ivan's shoulder, his bottom connecting with soft mattress and his feet thankfully touching solid ground.

His relief was short-lived. To his horror, Ivan had reacquainted his arms with the back of his waist and was staring at him with a creepily resolute expression. Instinctively, Yao drew his hands to his collar and covered it protectively.

"Don't... don't commit any crimes aru! You'll regret it for life! I'll make sure you regret it for life aru!" Yao cried almost hysterically as he fruitlessly tried to back away from Ivan.

To his surprise and relief, Ivan remained on his knees in front of Yao and laid his head docilely on Yao's lap. Uncomfortably near his vital regions, but at least not directly against it.

"If we're going to be here for a long time, you'd be more comfortable if you sat down da?" Ivan said tenderly.

Yao stared down at the large head of silvery blond hair in disbelief. How he wished he could look inside his brain to see what he was thinking. This boy was simply unfathomable!

"Don't think that by pretending to be considerate, you will earn my forgiveness aru," Yao sulked. Ivan said nothing but merely remained still.

The minutes ticked by rapidly, and still, nobody made a move. Yao was starting to feel hot and humid, for the windows and door were closed and the electrical fan had not been switched on. He could not see any clock in the room, but he knew that the hour was late, for night was falling outside the window and the room was getting dark. Yet he did not dare to move an inch for fear of disturbing the big baby in his lap. Ivan was so quiet and unstirring that Yao was sure that he must have fallen asleep.

How silly of him to fall asleep in such an awkward position. Wouldn't he feel uncomfortable? Yao mused to himself as he absent-mindedly began running his fingers through Ivan's hair. Ivan's hair felt so delicate and soft, a stark contrast to his huge, intimidating physique. Right now, he looked just like a sleeping pet puppy, Yao smiled. No, make that a pet bear.

Yao remembered how when he was a little boy, he would clamber into his mother's lap and listen to her sing him a lullaby and cuddle him to sleep. Subsequently when he was a little older, he would mimic his mother and do the same for Xiang and Wan before their bedtime. Xiang always stared back blankly at him, which rather unnerved him, and only fell asleep when Yao fell silent. Wan, on the other hand, would rudely tell him that his singing gave her nightmares. In retaliation, Yao would raise his volume until Wan cried for their mother to come. Those were the days when he was still too childish to act like the mature big brother that he had always wanted to be. Yao smirked at the memories.

Looking back at the peaceful polar bear snoozing blissfully on his lap, Yao could not help feeling a mixture of gladness and pain. Poor Ivan, how he must have been starved from affection for such a long time! Although Ivan's perverted antics and bullying ways irked him, he would never forget the day when Ivan broke down in front of him and told him how his parents did not love him. And how he had sworn to reform Ivan so that he would one day be able to enjoy the family warmth that Yao was blessed with. He felt awashed with guilt as he recalled how he had instead given Ivan the cold shoulder for the past weeks.

"I'm sorry, Ivan, I'll treat you better from now on aru," Yao bent over and pressed his lips gently against Ivan's head.

Ivan stirred slightly, causing Yao to freeze for fear of waking him up. When Ivan made no further movement, he leaned backwards, settled his hands down by his sides on the mattress and watched Ivan's sleeping form. His long eyelashes and innocent smile gave him the appearance of a sleeping angel.

"You're so cute aru. If only you would be as sweet a person as you look, I would definitely fall in love with you," Yao said aloud.

"Yao..." Ivan murmured.

"Uh... Ivan?" Yao said worriedly, concerned that Ivan had heard his words. "Did I wake you aru? I'm sorry... I..."

"Today's the happiest day of my life da..."

"Uh... huh?" Yao felt startled as Ivan tightened his embrace around his waist.

"Teehee~ The gown suits you very much~"

Yao cringed in disgust as Ivan began drooling onto his pants in his deep slumber.

"I still can't believe that you agreed to marry me da!"

"What?"

"I will make you happy, I promise da!"

"Errr..."

"Let's consummate!"

"Aiya!" Yao exclaimed as he was forcefully tipped backwards into the bed. Before he could react, Ivan was suddenly all over him, his arms locking Yao's to the sides of his body, while his amorous lips pressed kisses all over Yao's appalled face.

"What the hell! Get off me you pervert!" Yao cried, his feeble struggling contained effortlessly by Ivan, who had virtually wrapped his limbs around Yao. Loud rustling sounds of tangling cloth ensued as they rolled around in the bedsheets, Yao trying to roll them off the bed and Ivan trying to make Yao stay still beneath him.

"Don't be shy~ You're my wife, it's only natural that we become one da~"

"Become one your head! I'm not your wife!" Yao cried.

"Mmm... Yao is so tsundere... but that's what I like about you." In his semi-asleep state, Ivan lifted a hand to his own coat to unbutton it in preparation for their 'consummation'.

A loud smack, followed by a smarting pain in one cheek, and Ivan suddenly found himself plunged into darkness, his head reeling from the sudden change in environment. Just moments ago, he was in a brightly lit hotel room, admiring his beloved Yao who looked simply ravishing in a Russian wedding dress. Another loud smack ensued, and both his cheeks were burning up.

"Yao! What...?"

"Get away from me aru!" Something below him gave his chest a hard shove and he rolled over from the impact, his head connecting hard with the wall with a loud thud.

"Ivan Braginski! Do you always have such disgusting dreams aru? Or is this another of your perverted attempts to take advantage of me?" Yao shouted from beside Ivan's bookshelf, where he felt was a safe distance between himself and the bed. Ivan looked up at him in bewilderment. Yao's usually neat shirt was crumpled and tucked out, and his long hair was so disheveled that his hair tie was almost coming undone.

"Aww~ I was dreaming?" Ivan said dejectedly as he rubbed the sore point on his head. "Please don't be mad~ I swear I didn't do that to you on purpose! I must have thought that you were in my dream while the Yao in my dream was real. Our wedding was so realistic. Maybe it's because you're both in my dreams as well as outside my dream so I got all confused if you get what I mean. Ne~ Do you understand me? Actually I don't even know what I'm talking about da."

"Are you sure you're wide awake aru? Shall I splash some ice water over you?" Yao crossed his arms sternly.

"I think I'm wide awake, but my head is spinning and humming," Ivan held out a palm helplessly. Yao inhaled sharply. The tips of his fingers were coated with crimson. Abandoning all malicious thoughts towards Ivan, Yao sprinted towards him.

"You're bleeding!" Yao cupped Ivan's head in his hands, his anxious eyes searching for the source of blood. It did not take him too long to discover a small patch of red at the back of his head that contrasted starkly with his pale blond hair.

"Oh Ivan, you must have hit your head hard aru," Yao cried. "How are you feeling? Can you stand up?"

"I feel very dizzy da, and my head hurts so much," Ivan said as he sagged against Yao.

"Hang in there, I'll get help aru!" Yao tried to help Ivan to lie down, but Ivan held on to his arm.

"No, no, Yao. Don't leave me," Ivan whispered weakly.

"I'm not leaving you," Yao insisted. "I'm getting someone to help me carry you to the school clinic. You're too heavy for me to do that all by myself aru!"

"Promise that you will never leave me da?"

"I won't leave you aru."

"And that you do love me? Because if you don't, you should just leave me for dead as life would be meaningless without your love da," Ivan said sorrowfully.

"Aiya, you're not going to die! And don't say such childish things aru!" Yao cried. "Let me go! You need a doctor quickly or there may be some serious repercussions!" He wrung his hands desperately. The crimson patch on Ivan's hair seemed to be spreading by the minute.

"Not until you say that you love me," Ivan said stubbornly.

"Oh for heaven's sake! Where are your priorities aru?" Yao gave an exasperated sigh.

Eventually, left with no choice by a determined Ivan, who was staring at Yao with an earnest but pained expression in his eyes, Yao conceded defeat.

"All right, I love you, and I don't want you to die, so please let me get someone to help me take you to the doctor. Will that do now aru?"

"I am still your boyfriend da?" Ivan gave him a weak but satisfied smile.

Resisting the urge to correct him for the inappropriate usage of 'still', for he had not regarded him as his boyfriend in the first place, Yao bit his lip and nodded, "Yes aru."

Watching Yao sprint towards the door, Ivan stifled a victorious little chuckle.

**To be continued...**

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**BEHIND THE SCENES**

Ivan: Is the chapter called 'Ivan Does the Unthinkable' ever going to be written? *rage*

Yao: H-chan promises that it will be the next chapter aru. Do calm down.

Ivan: That's what she said in the last chapter and the previous and the previous da!

Yao: Well this chapter wasn't supposed to be so short, but 'Ivan Does the Unthinkable' is a climax chapter that deserves greater focus and depth, hence the storyline for it was postponed to the next chapter aru. You won't be disappointed.

Ivan: Hmmph! Since when have you started speaking up for H-chan?

Yao: She writes these stories, doesn't she? Without her, we won't have a job. (Anything to delay the time when I have to acknowledge Ivan as my lover _)

Ivan: That's true. But I really can't wait for the climax da! How about we create one ourselves right now? Kolkolkolkol~

Yao: Erm... meaning? (I don't like the sound of this)

Ivan: Let's become one da!

Yao: Noooooo aru!

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~  
**Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	23. How Toris Became Ivan's Punching Bag

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13 for kissing scenes and sexual references**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations.

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story page, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

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**Chapter 23: Interlude ~How Toris Became Ivan's Punching Bag~**

One does not shoot a gun without pulling its trigger.

Contrary to widely believed, the incident that prompted Ivan Braginski to terrorize the student body of Hetalia Gakuen was not Francis' foul behaviour at the Freshman Orientation Ceremony. In fact, Ivan was secretly thankful for it. If not for that fateful incident, Ivan would not have met Yao.

Yet when Ivan thought he had finally found refuge away from home, fate cruelly took his beloved angel away from him, leaving him out in the lonesome cold for three agonizingly long months. Wretched memories of Ivan's second day at Hetalia Gakuen remained deeply etched in his mind, a fearful driving force behind his resentment for his school mates.

* * *

"Hurry up, I haven't got all day!"

On the second day of school, Arthur Kirkland was so busy that when he came to pick Ivan up from the clinic, he practically jogged all the way to the European dormitory, making the Russian huff and puff behind him as he dragged his large suitcase behind him.

"That's the cafeteria, the public bath house is that small building on the right, the study area is on the left," Arthur made a running commentary as he led Ivan into the European dormitory. "There are twenty floors of rooms and yours is on the twentieth floor. And because old Roma is too much of a cheapskate to install lifts, we'll have to take the stairs. Come on!"

By the time Ivan reached his floor, he felt like his coat had become roomier from the work out. Arthur pressed a palm against the wall for support as he clutched a stitch in his side, cursing 'bastard old lecher' profusely.

A door swung open, nearly hitting Arthur in the face.

"I can't believe you're turning me out just because you need wardrobe space, Feliks! You're heartless!" Toris whined as he stepped out into the corridor, arms laden with his own belongings.

"Don't be such a wimp, Liet! Why, if I was heartless, I wouldn't like use my precious time to fill up the room transfer application form for you. I'd have totally tossed your things out onto the corridor!" Feliks piled two rolls of socks that did not belong to him on top of Toris' pile.

"That still makes you heartless! Does our relationship mean nothing in the face of a pile of school girl uniforms?" Toris protested.

"I need personal space duh!"

"You have personal space all right! I have to sleep on the floor every night because you dump all your clothes on my bed!"

"Why, then the answer is separate rooms duh!"

"Oi, that's enough. Carry out your lover's spat behind closed doors if you must. The corridor isn't part of your room," Arthur scolded.

Feliks hmmphed while Toris grumbled, "I don't even have a room now!"

"You're the student who requested for a room transfer, aren't you? It's been approved. Your room is 20-03, two rooms away from your old one. Here's your new key and new room mate," Arthur handed a key to Toris and pointed at Ivan, who was still catching his breath against the wall.

Ivan looked up to greet his new friend, but was instead greeted by two pairs of terrified green eyes.

Feliks gripped Toris' arm. "Isn't that the violent brute who killed Francis?"

"What! Francis died?" Toris clamped a hand over his mouth.

"So like why is this murderer even here? He should totally be locked away!"

Ivan felt his world grow cold as Feliks continued to gripe about Francis' 'demise'.

"Don't be daft!" Arthur snapped. "Believe me, if Francis had died, the police will hear about it. Don't go spreading foolish rumours, Feliks!"

"That totally doesn't change the fact that he's dangerous," Feliks glowered.

"That totally doesn't change the fact that he's a student of this school," Arthur countered snidely.

"I'm so totally canceling the room transfer then! No way am I evar. gonna. like let my Liet-chan stay with that bloodthirsty creep!" Feliks put his arms protectively around Toris, who was quaking like a leaf in the wind.

Arthur felt a vein pop in his head. "What am I? Your personal secretary? You made the application and it's approved, so live with it! I'm not amending it at your beck and call. Now get along, you three, or I'll make you regret it!"

With that last warning, Arthur marched off.

"Feliks, I have a stomachache…"

* * *

Ivan grudgingly unpacked his stationery from his bag. Arthur had informed him that he would be writing lines for his detention, which would take place after Ivan had settled down. Ivan still failed to comprehend why he had to go for detention when he was clearly not in the wrong. However, the fact that Arthur had abducted his precious water pipe meant that he had to abide by his terms or risk losing his little metallic friend forever. It had only been a few hours, and already, he missed it terribly. Without it, he felt incredibly insecure and depressed. Feliks' jeers and taunts were not helping matters.

"Liet!" Ivan's dormitory door swung open for the umpteenth time. "So, did the criminal like bully you?"

Feliks cast a mean look at Ivan. Ivan returned it with a creepy grin that made the blond's hair stand on end.

"I'm fine, Feliks. Don't call him that!" Toris hissed.

"Like since when do you have so much winter clothing?" Feliks eyed the pile of woolen sweaters and scarves that Toris was arranging on clothes hangers suspiciously.

"They're all mine~!" Ivan said cheerfully.

"What!" Feliks gave a hard tug at Toris' ear, eliciting a painful yelp from the Lithuanian. "Like geez, why are you doing menial work for him? Have you got no pride?"

"Because we're friends, and friends should help each other da?" Ivan shot Toris a cheerful smile.

"That… that's right!" Toris squeaked.

"Who said you could be friends with a murderer?" Feliks practically shrieked into Toris' aching ear.

"Look," Toris whispered back indignantly. "You were the one who landed me with this murderer for a room mate. I'm doing all I can to protect myself!"

"If you both don't stop calling me names, I will become a murderer all right. Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan suddenly appeared behind both of them, chuckling menacingly.

Toris shrunk back in fright. Feliks took a step back, but glared at him with intense dislike.

"Nobody ever bullies my man, do you hear me? Why, even if it takes days, weeks, months, or even like, years, I swear I'll totally get you kicked out of this room!

"By which time I'll probably be dead," Toris whimpered unhappily.

Feliks rounded on him, "And you stop being such a useless coward! I've got your back, okay? If that murderer manages to touch like, even one strand of your hair, I'll let you paint my room black!"

"I don't care about that…"

"Or brown. Or, or, like, any other boring colour. I know how much you hate pink…"

Ivan had had enough. He ran out of the dormitory room, slammed the door shut, leaned heavily against it and burst into tears.

Why oh why did they bully him so when he had not even laid a finger on them? What had he ever done to deserve such nasty names and hatred? Even behind him, he could feel hard pounding of fists against the wooden door and cries of despair.

"Oh my God!" Feliks' annoying voice rang out from the other side of the door. "The murderer's locked us in. He's going to set us on fire! We're all going to die!"

"I told you not to antagonize him, Feliks!"

"Now what?"

"Call the Student Council Room!"

"No, call the police, duh!"

Ivan kicked the door hard in frustration, inciting another chorus of frightened screams from behind. He marched off towards the Student Council Room as fast as his legs could take him, wiping his tears with his scarf as he went. He would retrieve his water pipe, and then, he would make those bullies cry and beg for his forgiveness. Kolkolkolkol~

**To be continued...**

* * *

**Author's Note:** This is more like an extra chapter rather than part of the story. I actually wrote it for another gakuen story that was supposed to give greater insight into Ivan's school life during his first week in Hetalia Gakuen, but I never got to finish that and in fact, ended up incorporating the chapters into this story. I kind of like Feliks' interaction with Toris here XD And I think it gives us all a deeper insight on why Ivan enjoys assaulting Toris in particular (other than convenience XD). Also, it explains why Toris and Ivan roomed together, while other students in Hetalia Gakuen got to room with people they like.

Next chapter will be up in a bit!

By the way, last week was the first anniversary of Taming the Polar Bear! I've spent one year on this story! This is kind of amazing XD I spent 3 years writing my first LotR fanfic which spanned over 40 chapters. But it was in script format with only dialogue and some descriptive words XD I myself wonder how long it will be until this story ends. I know for sure that there will be no less than 35 chapters! XD

* * *

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~**

Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	24. Yao Does the Unthinkable

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13 for kissing scenes and sexual references**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations.

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story page, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

* * *

**Chapter 24**: **Yao Does the Unthinkable**

Ivan walked down the aisle of a nameless church. He had no inkling of how he had got here, or what he was doing here. His last conscious memory was of him leaving his dormitory room for the school clinic, supported by Yao and a disgruntled Ludwig.

However, Yao and Ludwig had mysteriously disappeared. He searched for them through the rows of people seated on the pews. He spotted many familiar faces, most of them students in the European faculty. Oddly enough, when he approached them, he failed to get any response. This had never happened to him. His schoolmates feared his waterpipe too much to blatantly ignore him. As he walked down the aisle, his ears pricked up at the mention of his name.

"You know, like, now that Ivan Braginski is like, gone, we should use this occasion to celebrate. You so totally won't see me here if not for his, oh wow, so crazy younger sister. Why, that whole family is, like, full of loonies and bullies!"

"Don't be so mean, Feliks," Toris' voice followed after. "It's still a sad occasion."

"Natalia?" Ivan thought in alarm. "What has this got to do with her? Is she here?"

Instinctively, he squatted down to hide himself, but it was too late. A bout of cold air engulfed him from behind, and a sense of dread struck his heart.

"Waaaaah!" Ivan wailed as he scrambled out of Natalia's path. To his astonishment, Natalia appeared not to have noticed him. She continued walking down the aisle, until she came to a stop at the podium in front of the church.

"Ivan was a man whom nobody could replace, at least not in my heart," she addressed her audience solemnly. "From the time I was born, I had regarded Ivan as my husband. Yes, our 16 years together had not been entirely happy. What we had was not a perfect marriage, but as the people say…"

Ivan groaned in exasperation. Natalia had taken her day dreams too far. He wanted to escape from the church before Natalia noticed him, but what if Yao was here? Yao would think that Ivan had been cheating on him with Natalia all this while. He had to find Yao quickly and clarify matters with him. He crawled along the aisle on all fours in hopes of not drawing Natalia's attention.

Despite wanting to put as much distance between himself and Natalia, he found himself drawn to the first row. One lady was sobbing loudly while staring up at the speaker. In fact, she seemed to be about the only member of the audience who was paying attention. Everyone else was chattering away and preoccupied with their own activity.

"Yekaterina?" Ivan squat down beside his older sister. "Are you all right?"

"Boohoohoo! Vanya! You had such a bright future ahead. How could you leave us so soon? Boohoohoo!"

"Leave you? I don't understand~ Speak to me! Stop ignoring me da!" Ivan stood up and shook her by the shoulders, but Yekaterina took no heed of him and sobbed into her hands.

Deeply disturbed, he turned to look at the person sitting beside Yekaterina in hopes of getting some answers. His heart skipped a beat. Yao.

Yao was crying into a Hello Kitty hankerchief, looking absolutely distraught. Ivan felt his heart ache as he reached out to hug him, but someone else beat him to it.

"Don't be sad," Raivis put his arms around Yao, much to Ivan's fury. "You didn't want this to happen."

Yao sniffed loudly. "If I hadn't pushed him away, he wouldn't have knocked his head against the bed, and he wouldn't have died. This is all my fault aru."

"Shh… it's ok. A jerk like him deserves it. It's not your fault."

Yao inclined his head against Raivis' shoulder and continued crying. Raivis patted his head lovingly.

Ivan felt his heart slow to a stop.

Died. He, Ivan Braginski, had died, from a knock on his head. This was simply ludicrous. Yet everything fell into place, the fact that nobody responded to him, that Natalia did not come running after him demanding to get married, that Raivis had the gall to touch his angel, albeit knowing that Yao was his property…

"Noooo!" Ivan wailed as he pummeled his fists against the top of the wooden bench.

The wood caved in, becoming soft and squishy so that his fists blended into it. Oh heavens, God was taking him away from this world, even before he had a chance to kiss Yao goodbye…

"Ivan! Wake up aru!"

The next moment, Ivan felt pressure on his shoulders as someone shook him hard. He opened his eyes slowly and Yao's anxious face materialized in front of him. Reflexively, he looked down at where his hands rested on his lap, and realized that the something squishy he had been pummeling was his bolster.

"Did you have a nightmare aru?" Yao asked anxiously.

"I'm… I'm not dead?" Ivan asked confusedly as he felt his own face and chest with his hands. They were reassuringly warm and solid.

Yao frowned. "Of course not, why would you be dead?"

"Yao~" Ivan threw his arms around Yao, tears spilling out from his anxious eyes onto Yao's shoulders. Yao permitted Ivan to sob his heart out as he embraced Ivan and stroked his back comfortingly. Eventually, when Ivan's broad shoulders had stopped trembling so violently, Yao ventured to ask him about his frightening dream.

With whimpers and sniffs peppering his words, Ivan proceeded to tell him all about his tragic funeral, getting particularly emotional when he got to Raivis' encroachment.

"Yao~ I'm so scared. I'm really afraid that you'll leave me for Raivis if I die, or anyone else for that matter. How I wished you were the one at the podium instead of Natalia!" Ivan sobbed.

"Aiya! I've only met Raivis once! Unlike you, I don't believe in love at first sight. I've made that very clear to you aru!"

"What about Manfred?" Ivan sniffed.

"Err... who aru?"

"Alfred's brother. The one who fainted at the Chinese Studies lecture that you stood in for Professor Zhang."

"Aiya, I don't even remember what he looks like aru!" Yao cried.

Upon seeing Ivan's unconvinced expression, Yao cupped his tearful face in his hands. Ivan looked so adorable and harmless when he cried.

"Silly boy, you'll live a long, ripe life. I believe that dreams are the opposite of reality. At least, that is what my mother and grandmother say aru," Yao gave him a reassuring smile.

"So you'll deliver my eulogy when I die da?" Ivan gazed up tearfully at Yao.

Yao laughed. "I'm older than you. You'll probably outlive me aru."

"All right," Ivan sniveled. "I promise you that I will deliver your eulogy and tell the whole world what a great wife you are."

"Aiya, that's not necessary," Yao snapped. "Besides, I'm not your wife!"

"But if I'm your lover, then we'll become husband and wife some day da?"

"I really think that's not going to happen aru," Yao said as he bent over to retrieve something from his bag at the foot of the bed.

"Good heavens, you're right!" Ivan suddenly gave a shout as he pounded his fist on his palm.

"About high time you realized that aru," Yao grumbled as he eased himself upwards, cradling a Styrofoam bowl in his hands.

"If dreams are opposite of reality, that means that my wedding with you won't happen da?" Ivan panicked.

Yao groaned inwardly. He could not believe that Ivan had the cheek to bring up the matter of that perverted dream that caused him to end up in the school clinic.

"Dreams are just dreams. Don't take them seriously aru," Yao advised.

"But I really want to marry you da!" Ivan declared.

"That's impossible. If we look at it rationally, homosexual marriages are not even legal in my country. Or yours aru."

"Is that your only concern da?" Ivan asked brightly. "Don't worry, we can get married in Las Vegas! Straight after our wedding, we can go for our honeymoon! I heard that Las Vegas…"

Ivan suddenly found a spoonful of warm Borscht shoved into his mouth, preventing him from elaborating on his plans.

"Shut up and eat your Borscht aru!" Yao snapped. He pushed the bowl of Borscht firmly into Ivan's hands.

"The school nurse said that you've simply sustained a bruise and broken skin. She has bandaged your wound and you can leave any time," Yao explained. "However, you seemed to be in so much pain earlier on that I thought you needed to be hospitalized, so I bought you a bowl of Borscht. I've informed the nurse that you won't be staying. You can leave after you've finished it aru."

As Yao stood up to leave, Ivan gave a cry of alarm.

"What? Aren't you feeding me?" Ivan whined as he tugged at Yao's sleeve piteously.

"Why should I aru? You're not shivering. I didn't remove your coat, scarf and gloves this time," Yao arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, you remember our first meeting da?" Ivan smiled sheepishly. He had asked Yao to feed him on the pretext of being so cold and shivery that he could not steady his hands. He smiled at the memory of how sweet, gentle Yao had fretted over removing his outer wear.

"Of course I remember it aru," Yao pursed his lips. Then, his lips curving into a small smile, he said, "Since I apparently caused your death in your dream, I'll make it up to you by feeding you. Just this once aru."

"Da!" Ivan cried eagerly.

Yao sat back down on the bed. He took the bowl and scooped a spoonful of Borscht, blew at it gently and brought it to Ivan, who swallowed the spoonful eagerly.

"How is it?" Yao asked.

"It's the most delicious Borscht I've ever tasted in my life!" Ivan gushed.

Yao giggled.

"You're not much of a gourmet, are you? I've tried this and it pales in comparison to what we had at the Sunflower Field aru."

"Anything that Yao feeds me is the greatest delicacy in the world da!" Ivan declared.

Yao blushed slightly as he fed another spoonful of Borscht to Ivan.

"Umm… Ivan, do you really like me?"

Ivan lunged at Yao so suddenly that he nearly dropped the bowl.

"'Like' is an understatement! I love you da!" Ivan grabbed Yao's shoulders agitatedly.

"But… but why? We haven't known each other for a very long time, and I haven't exactly been nice to you aru," Yao remarked. He placed the Borscht on the side table to avoid spilling it.

"That's not true, Yao," Ivan smiled sappily. "Even when you're mad at me, you still show concern for me. You're not afraid of me, and you genuinely care for me. Every time you get worked up about my problems, I feel really touched. Nobody has ever lavished me with so much attention~"

A dreamy expression replaced Ivan's agitated look as he recalled all the wonderful moments he shared with his lovely angel.

"Oh," Yao muttered. It had never occurred to him that he would be appreciated for being a busybody and a nag, as his siblings and cousins, and sometimes even his juniors, were so fond of calling him whenever he tried to fuss over them. Furthermore, he had often felt that it was the other way round, that Ivan was the one who smothered him with attention.

"Yao~" Ivan whined, distracting Yao from deep thought. "I'm serious about you~"

Yao took a deep breath.

"Ivan," Yao said seriously, "If… If I accept you as my boyfriend, you will listen to everything I say, won't you?"

"Aren't I your boyfriend already?" Ivan blinked innocently.

"Aiya!" Yao cried, "Surely you aren't so dense to imagine that all this time I've been reciprocating your one-sided crush aru!"

"But we've done things that lovers do da~! We've gone on dates. You've introduced me to your family members. And we hug and kiss everyday!"

Saying which, Ivan leaned forward suddenly and pressed their lips into an intimate embrace. Expecting Yao to resist, he tightened his embrace, but to his surprise, Yao did not try to attempt to push him away or twist his head away as he always did. Instead, he parted his lips slightly in silent invitation for Ivan to venture inside.

Ivan thrust inside eagerly. Slowly, languorously and affectionately, he caressed his lover's warm cavern, first the roof of his mouth, then his inner cheeks and his teeth. Yao confronted the intruder gamely, interlocking their tongues in a wrestling game. Their tongues danced and entwined, until finally, Yao pulled back, the necessity for breath overwhelming.

"You… you didn't resist," Ivan stammered as he stared dazedly at Yao, still stunned by the exhilaration from their mutual union.

"Hmmph!" Yao blushed. "We've only gone on two dates in two whole months since we last met. You haven't met my parents and sister, neither have I met yours. I fight back every time you hug and kiss me. Do you really think that makes us a real couple aru?"

"But you didn't resist just now~" Ivan said jovially as he attempted to plant another kiss on Yao's lips. His plan was abruptly ruined by a pillow that Yao shoved into his face. Yao scrambled off the bed as Ivan was forced to release his embrace.

"Since logic doesn't seem to get through your thick head, that was just an example to show you the difference between a real couple and a one-sided crush aru! You won't be getting another kiss from me until I consider you my lover aru!" Yao hugged a bolster over his chest, his face flaming red.

Ivan gazed, mesmerized, at Yao's tomato-red visage. Yao always looked so adorable and irresistible when he was embarrassed. Yet Ivan knew that for all his shyness, the intensity in his amber eyes indicated that his angel meant business.

"Well, if you want to meet my parents and sisters, I'll arrange it. But mind you, Papa and Natalia are very scary da! Of course, I'll protect you with my life, but I'm afraid that you may get put off if you meet them so soon..."

"Aiya!" Yao cried, "Why do you always misunderstand my words? I'm not going to do such things with you until we become a real couple aru!"

"But you just said that real couples meet each others' parents and sisters," Ivan scratched his head.

"What I meant was, we'll do such things after we become a real couple aru!" Yao sighed.

"You say very confusing things," Ivan sulked.

"Take it or leave it!" Yao shot back.

"All right, Yao," Ivan said determinedly, "Tell me what I have to do to become your lover."  
**  
To be continued...**

* * *

**Author's Note:** All this time I thought it would be 'Ivan Does the Unthinkable'. In the end, it became 'Yao Does the Unthinkable' lol XD And Yay another cliffhanger! XD What will Ivan have to do? Dun dun dun~ I'll try my best to finish up the coming chapter over the weekend.

* * *

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~**

Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	25. Ivan Does the Unthinkable Too

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13 for kissing scenes and sexual references**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations.

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Hiramuya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my story page, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

* * *

**Chapter 25: Ivan Does the Unthinkable Too**

"Yao, do I really have to do this?" Ivan dragged his feet as he followed Yao out of the school clinic.

"What? You don't want to? Then stop calling me your boyfriend aru." Yao shrugged nonchalantly.

"It's not that I don't want to. I'm scared," Ivan wibbled.

"You've done it to Alfred and his brother, and nothing bad happened right? You even became friends with Alfred aru," Yao replied.

"But Ludwig is so fierce!" Ivan whined. "And he hit me too! In many places!"

"That's because you antagonized him aru. People don't usually react unkindly unless you're mean to them. If Ludwig was fierce, Feliciano wouldn't tolerate him. That crybaby starts bawling if I so much as speak a little louder to him aru," Yao scoffed.

Seeing Ivan's unhappy face, Yao proceeded to explain, "Making an apology is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, people will be impressed with your humility and be drawn to you. Surely you don't want your dream to become reality, where you have nobody but your sisters to cry for you and read out your eulogy?"

The chilling scene of Natalia addressing him as her husband surfaced from his memories. Ivan vowed not to let his nightmare become a reality.

"All right, I'll do it," he conceded, "But can you hold my hand?"

Smiling slightly, Yao took his hand and gave it a little squeeze. Hand in hand, they walked out into the corridor. Ivan was alarmed to note that his challenge had surfaced earlier than expected. Ludwig sat in one of the chairs lining the corridor, eyes closed with the back of his head leaning against the wall. A worried-looking Feliciano sat beside him, rubbing an egg against a purple bruise on Ludwig's forehead.

"Are you sure this will work?" Ludwig's eyes scrunched up in a frown.

"Ve~ Yao nii-chan said that this is an effective method of getting rid of bruises~" Feliciano said firmly as he applied more force with the egg. Ludwig winced in pain.

"I think all I'm going to get from this is a headache. Eggs don't have medicinal properties!" Ludwig chided.

"I assure you that it works!" Yao piped up. "I use it on my siblings whenever they get bruised from falling down. It works all the time aru!"

Feliciano and Ludwig looked up in response to Yao's voice. Spotting Ivan, the timid Italian promptly dropped the egg on Ludwig's foot. A sticky mass of liquid egg yolk and egg white splattered all over Ludwig's shoes and the hem of his pants.

"Oh Feliciano, I told you to use a hard-boiled egg aru," Yao sighed.

Feliciano whimpered in fear as he attempted to hide behind Ludwig. Ludwig leapt to his feet defensively, ignoring the fact the unsightly mess of liquid egg that clung to his previously well-pressed and spotless pants.

"Don't be afraid! Ivan's not here to make trouble!" Yao hastily clarified.

"Trouble doesn't bother me. I'll show him his place," Ludwig rolled up his sleeves.

Not to be outdone, Ivan instinctively reached inside his coat for his waterpipe.

"Ivan! You promised me aru!" Yao grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Oh all right," Ivan sulked. Still holding on to his waterpipe, Ivan inclined his head slightly at Ludwig and said somberly, "I'm sorry for hitting you."

Ivan's rare show of remorse took Ludwig and Feliciano by surprise. Feliciano let out an amazed "Ve~!", while Ludwig lowered his clenched fist. Secretly relieved that Ludwig displayed no intentions of using violence, Ivan stowed his waterpipe back inside his coat.

"Hurrumph," Ludwig frowned skeptically, slight creases appearing across his high forehead. "It's no use paying lip service if you don't mean what you say."

Ivan took a deep breath. His heart was racing and his hands were clammy. Ludwig's contemptuous expression annoyed and embarrassed him. He had humbled himself and apologized for something he felt was not entirely his fault. What else did Ludwig want? Nevertheless, Yao's tantalizing promise of acknowledging their relationship, and the haunting nightmare of his funeral prompted him to persevere.

"Of course I am sincere da! I also apologize for causing your book to be confiscated," Ivan declared. Ludwig blushed as he cast a shifty look at Yao. He noticed that Yao was glowering at both of them.

"Ah well, I suppose it was my mistake for breaking the school rules," Ludwig muttered.

Ivan lowered his voice to a hushed whisper, "Your other book is safe though. I just remembered where I put it. It's hidden behind a loose brick in my bathroom."

Ludwig's worried frown dissolved into a relieved smile. "That's great news. That book means a lot to me. I'm so glad that you didn't lose it after all."

"Ve~! Does Ivan know where the 'Dummy's Guide to Making Your Male Friend Gay for You' is?" Feliciano suddenly exclaimed.

"Shhhhhh!" Unanimously, Ivan and Ludwig hissed at Feliciano to be quiet. Ivan looked anxiously at Yao, who shrugged his shoulders and said "I didn't hear anything aru." Yao liked abiding by rules, but he was not an absolute stickler for them. This was one such time when it would be silly to fuss over rules, especially when Ivan and Ludwig were on the verge of making up.

The deeply relieved pair caught each others eyes, and uncontrollably, they began to laugh.

"Ve~! Doitsu is smiling~! Doitsu is smiling~!" Feliciano sang as he encircled his hands affectionately around Ludwig's arm. "Thank you Ivan~!"

Ivan felt as though sun rays had beamed over his anxious heart. It was a familiar feeling he always experienced with Yao, with less intensity, but still a pleasant feeling nonetheless. He was pleased and amazed that a simple apology could work such wonders, on not just one, but two people.

Making up his mind to apologize for every single unhappy encounter he had had with Ludwig, Ivan said, "I'm also sorry about last few nights ago when I barged into your room when you and Feliciano were engaging in some sort of leather-suit play."

Ludwig's face paled. Feliciano let out a meek 've'. Yao gasped audibly.

"And for that time when I interrupted your photoshoot by untying Feliciano from a tree. I swear I had no idea that it was Ludwig's fetish. And also for the other time when I walked in on both of you in the toilet and caused you to drop your handcuff keys into the toilet bowl. I know I should have helped you to pick it up, but Ludwig looked so angry that..."

"Enough! Ivan Braginski! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Ludwig roared.

* * *

"What did I do wrong?" Ivan cried indignantly as he jogged alongside Yao down the corridor towards his dormitory room.

"Um, some things are better left unsaid aru," Yao replied, trying not to laugh.

"But I was just apologizing! I thought you said apologies are good!" Ivan argued almost accusingly.

Yao sighed. Teaching Ivan humility was one thing. Teaching him tact was another.

"Did I do something wrong? Ludwig was so furious. And now, you're sighing. Have I failed?" Ivan asked sadly.

Yao turned to him with a smile. "You're not the one at fault this time. I'm sure Ludwig will feel embarrassed and apologize to you about his outburst soon aru."

"Da~!" Ivan beamed, relieved to see his angel smiling.

They came to a stop in front of the dormitory room that Ivan and Toris shared. Ivan opened the door, revealing Toris, Raivis, Eduard and Feliks in the midst of clearing up the room, which had been turned upside down when they searched for Ludwig's missing book.

Ivan cleared his throat. A loud clattering ensued as books and stationery fell to the floor. Toris cried out from having dropped a stack of books on his feet. Feliks bolted towards Toris, and with his arms outstretched as though to block Toris from Ivan's view, he said aggressively, "Lay off my man, or else I'll totally kick your ass!"

"I'm not going to hurt him, or any of you da! I just want to thank you for helping me search for the book and clearing up my room now," Ivan said, a look of hurt in his eyes.

"You, Ivan Braginski, saying thanks? My pink ponies will fly!" Feliks snorted. Annoyed that Feliks did not believe him, Ivan looked at his other school mates. Eduard and Raivis held on to each other, trembling visibly.

"I mean it! Why do you always think that I would do bad things?" Ivan said mournfully.

"That's because you always do them! I won't forget the last time you thanked me for a 'chest massage'!" Feliks snapped.

"You were poking my chest and it hurt!" Ivan cried piteously.

"You totally deserved it for locking up my poor Liet-chan. Why, I could like, sue you for kidnap!" Feliks retorted.

"Hold it," Yao raised his hands to intrude, "If you want to dredge up past animosity, you're going to take all day. Ivan is here to make peace with you aru."

"You're like, his boyfriend. Of course you're speaking up for him, duh! You have like, the worst taste evar!" Feliks said contemptuously.

"Ivan, you promised!" Yao shook his head warningly as Ivan was mid-way through drawing out his waterpipe. Grudgingly but obediently, Ivan stowed the metallic weapon back inside his coat.

"Ivan, don't you have something important to do aru?" Yao gave him a stern look.

Obligingly, Ivan nodded and turned towards Toris.

"Toris."

Toris looked at him timidly. Feliks adjusted his position so that Toris was once more obscured from Ivan's view.

"I'm sorry for hitting you in the past. I promise not to do it again da."

Ivan's apology was greeted by a stunned silenced. His faculty mates stared back at him, mouths agape in utter bewilderment, as though Ivan had just apologized to them.

Oh wait, Ivan did apologize to them.

"Did mine ears deceive me?" Feliks gasped. "The big-nosed bully actually said 'sorry'"!

"Ivan means it, so stop calling him names aru," Yao said indignantly.

"This is bizarre!" Eduard was now cleaning his glasses as though he thought specks of dirt on it had caused him to recognize the wrong person.

"I mean it da! I swear on my waterpipe that I won't use it on all of you anymore!" Ivan put his fist to his heart.

"Really?" Feliks narrowed his eyes skeptically.

"Da! To prove my sincerity, you can keep my waterpipe for me!" Ivan abruptly shoved his waterpipe into Toris' arms. As the all too familiar touch of his cruel tormentor struck his senses, Toris reflexively screamed from terror and dropped it. Fortunately, an agile and alert Feliks caught it before it hit the floor.

"If my waterpipe incurs even a scratch, you will pay dearly for it. Kolkolkolkol~" A purple haze enshrouded Ivan, causing Feliks to shudder and Toris to break into tears.

"Ivan!" Yao cried. "Remember what you promised aru!"

"My waterpipe is very precious to me," Ivan sulked as the purple haze dispersed.

"It's... it's all right. You should take back your waterpipe," Toris quaked.

"You silly man! If you don't want to keep it, I'll keep it, duh! This is like, the golden opportunity to disarm this wild bear!" Feliks scolded as he gripped the waterpipe tightly.

Looking pointedly at Ivan, he said "I'm taking it for safekeeping."

"Mind you keep it safe, it's my Grandpapa's," Ivan said.

"Yes yes, I'll keep it in my safe. It will be cushioned by my most expensive school girl uniforms. Happy?" Feliks rolled his eyes.

"Da!" Ivan smiled. "Can we stop fighting now?"

"Duh! Don't think I enjoy fighting with you. You always make me ruin my manicure," Feliks snorted.

Beaming, Ivan turned to Eduard.

"Eduard, I'm sorry for forcing you to programme that video game. I'll pay you for your work da?"

"Oh don't worry about that," Eduard said graciously. "I sold the programme to a game developer and made a tidy sum of money. In fact, I must thank you for motivating me to try my hands at gaming. I might have discovered my hidden talent."

"Really?" Ivan exclaimed eagerly. "Can you programme a character inside the game with long black hair pulled back in a pony tail and amber eyes, wears old-fashioned Chinese clothes and says 'aiya' whenever he is flustered and..."

"Aiya!" an agitated cry from behind him caused him to pause in his speech.

"We'll talk later," Ivan whispered to Eduard.

Finally, he turned to Raivis, who eyed him expectantly.

"Raivis, I'll pay you for the Hello Kitty doll."

"You don't have to," Raivis said brightly. "As long as Yao-sempai likes it, I'm happy to make it. In fact, I just made another one for Yao-sempai."

Ignoring a chorus of "LATVIA!", a blushing Raivis bounded over to Yao and held up a hand-made Hello Kitty doll clad in a panda suit.

"Aiya! So cute! For me?" Yao cried, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Nodding happily, Raivis tried to press the Hello Kitty doll into Yao's hands. He was interrupted by Ivan, who marched over furiously and shoved Raivis' outstretched arm away.

"Yao is not taking that!" Ivan said menacingly.

"Why not?" Raivis and Yao chorused.

"Because Yao is my boyfriend, so he can only accept gifts from me da!" Ivan said stoically. Then he turned around and looked nervously at Yao. "I'm your boyfriend, aren't I?"

The annoyance in Yao's face faded, and he smiled back at Ivan. He looked over Ivan's shoulder with an apologetic face for Raivis.

"That's right. I have no reason to accept your present. I'll buy it from you, all right?"

A cloud of disappointment marred Raivis' cheerful face. Running around Ivan, he stuffed the doll into Yao's hands.

"It's all right! Take it!"

With a dramatic sniff, he ran for the door.

"I'd better follow him," Eduard said worriedly, and he followed Raivis out of the room.

"Liet-chan, coming with me? I want to keep big-nose... I mean, Ivan's waterpipe," Feliks said.

"Uh..." Toris murmured with a look of utter confusion and bewilderment.

"Is that a 'no'? What the heck do you want to like, stay here for? Play gooseberry?" Feliks clicked his tongue impatiently. Toris simply gave him a blank look.

"Stop acting like a fool!" Feliks shrieked as he gave Toris a hard pinch on his arm. Toris danced around in pain for awhile. Suddenly, a look of manic elation replaced his pained expression.

"Ivan apologized to me!" Toris said in an awed voice.

Feliks rolled his eyes. "You're kinda slow, duh!"

"And he won't use his waterpipe on me anymore," Toris recited.

"That's what I said," Ivan nodded smilingly.

"YAHOO! This is not a dream! This is true! I'm free! I'm free!" Like a footballer who had just scored a hat trick, Toris punched his fists in the air, ran several rounds around the room and did a somersault out through the door, his ecstatic screams and running steps reverberating down the corridor.

"Oi Liet-chan! Don't do anything stupid!"

The door slammed shut behind a frantic Feliks, leaving Ivan and Yao alone again.

Yao shook his head. "Just look at how happy Toris is. You must have been terrible to him aru."

"Toris and Feliks started being mean to me first. They kept calling me names," Ivan pouted. Then, smiling, he said, "But now that we've made up, I'll be nice to them da!"

Yao grinned approvingly. "I told you it wasn't hard to make friends. Isn't it nice to be smiled at by others?"

"Da!" Ivan nodded. "But, your smile gives me the nicest feeling of all."

He pulled Yao into a tender embrace. Their bodies moulded together, and Yao felt his head tipped till he was looking into Ivan's love-filled eyes. Ivan leant down and his lips pressed gently against Yao's. Yao could not stifle his moan of surprise and pleasure, and as his lips parted, Ivan's tongue slipped effortlessly inside.

Ivan's all-too-familiar tongue mapped out every contour of Yao's mouth, before engaging in an affectionate waltz with his lover's tongue. Yao returned Ivan's enthusiasm, and as his tongue passed Ivan's lips, Ivan sucked on it lovingly. Yao felt himself grow light-headed from lack of oxygen, although this time, there was no instinct to fight against it.

Finally, Ivan broke the kiss to allow them to breath. He admired Yao's beetroot-red but smiling face, and kiss-swollen lips. He hugged the lissome body tightly, as though suddenly afraid Yao would disappear before his eyes.

"Yao, I'm your boyfriend now da?"

"Yes aru," Yao whispered back shyly, his flushed face buried against his lover's broad chest. He could practically hear Ivan's frenzied heartbeat pounding in his ear.

"So we can have dinner together everyday da?"

"Yes aru."

"And dates every week da?"

"Yes aru."

"I can hug and kiss you whenever I want to da?"

"If... if nobody's looking aru..."

"I can hold your hand wherever we go da?"

"Yes aru."

"I can sleep with you da?"

"Ye... AIYA!"

"Just joking on that last one," Ivan giggled as Yao put up a half-hearted attempt to strangle him.

Effortlessly, Ivan pried the small hands off his neck and wrist-locked them behind Yao's back. He pressed a kiss against Yao's soft cheek, another on his smooth forehead, and another on his perky nose, another on the other cheek, another on...

"Aiya! Haven't you had enough aru? Aren't your lips sore?"

"The first kiss is for the first day I met you~" Ivan explained cheerfully. "The second kiss is for my second day of longing to meet you~ The third kiss is for the third day when I looked everywhere for you but couldn't find you~"

"Then we'll be at it all night!" Yao complained as he struggled to get out of Ivan's unyielding embrace.

"Exactly~ So we should make ourselves comfortable~" Ivan said gleefully. Dexterously, he tipped his lover into the lower bunk of his double-deck bed and landed with a flop next to Yao.

"Toris always spends a long time away when he's with Feliks, so you can make good use of this time to compensate me~ Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan chuckled as he pinned his hapless lover underneath him. Life as a real couple would be a bed of roses, Ivan thought.  
**  
To be continued...**

* * *

**Free talk: **Yay! They finally became lovers! After 25 long episodes. But is this the end? No, this is not the end. Because love is never a bed of roses. Hahaha. Let's see what other troubles our lovely couple gets up to in future chapters! XD

Yao realizes that he does like Ivan - Ivan is not only devoted to him, he is also very cute. Quoting Kiku, Ivan is Yao's cup of tea. However, right from the start, Ivan's bullying ways bother him, and therefore, he decides to use this opportunity to convince Ivan to make up with his schoolmates in return for his genuine affection. So Yao didn't 'sacrifice' himself, it is actually a clever idea, even though Yao doesn't look like he's clever enough to think of such schemes *hit by the Chinese wok*

Ivan's waterpipe is now with Feliks for safe-keeping. I know it's strange for Ivan to be without a waterpipe. But at some point of time, this has to happen. The story's title would not be 'Taming the Polar Bear' if Ivan continues being the tyrant he is XD So if I ever write about Ivan bringing out his waterpipe, please give me a virtual slap XD

And now that one of the most important climaxes of the story is over, this would be an appropriate time to go on a short hiatus so that I can work on the stories for my upcoming doujinshi Our Secret History (http : / / oursecrethistory. blog. fc2blog. net (Remove the spaces)). I seriously need to work on it after seeing all the lovely illustrations that everyone has been submitting. The hiatus will probably be around 1 - 2 months long. You've waited this long, even longer before, so I think this wouldn't be so bad XD Thank you for waiting and for supporting my fic all these times, in spite of my slow updates! =3=

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions or requests for particular scenes and things that you want to see our lovely couple do in this story, please state it in the comments and I'll try to accommodate. Please don't suggest lemon though. I've already had that planned out, and maybe I'll write the lemon as a separate side-story. This story is PG-13 after all.

**~ Don't Forget to Review ~**

Compliments encourage a writer to write more and produce faster updates, while constructive reviews help a writer improve! So if you enjoyed the chapter, please review instead of quietly faving! To be honest, I adore reviews, I thrive by them. I take pride in knowing that I've made a reader happy, inspired someone or strengthened someone's love for Rochu. If a chapter has few reviews, I do get discouraged and think that I've done such a bad job that nobody cares to point out the issues. So do a good deed today and leave a review~ Thank you for your precious time!


	26. Ivan's Anxiety

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13 for kissing scenes and sexual references**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations.

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Himaruya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my blog or blog post, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.

* * *

**Warning: Explicit description of male-on-male intimacy (but no lemon)**

**Chapter 26: Ivan's Anxiety**

Yao leaned against the parapet, tapping his toes anxiously as he took in a bird's eye view of the school grounds from the roof garden. It was a breezy day and the skies were clear-blue, but Yao was in no mood to enjoy the scenery. He was hungry and his stomach was protesting. Yet Ivan was no where to be seen.

He had taken initiative to invite Ivan to meet him at the roof garden of the Asian academic building for a picnic date, even waking up extra early to prepare the food. Right now, he could feel the dim sum in his bamboo steamer grow cold while his temper rose. How dare Ivan be late when he had put in so much effort to accommodate him with his hectic schedule!

"Aiya! This Ivan!" Yao complained aloud. "If he doesn't show up on the count of three, I'm going to leave! One, two..."

A pair of large hands suddenly obscured his view. A childish voice whispered into his ear, "Guess who?"

Yao jumped so hard that if not for the parapet in front of him, he would have leapt off the building.

"About time, Ivan," Yao answered flatly when he had regained his nerves.

"So clever!" Ivan declared cheerfully. He released Yao and gave him a hug and a large bouquet of sunflowers.

"Sorry for being late~ I wanted the sunflowers to be fresh for you, so I went to the florist as late as I could. But I didn't like the way she tied the bow, so I made her do it over and over again~" Ivan gazed at Yao out of shimmering, woeful eyes. Naturally, the older man's frown vanished in a flash.

"You don't have to get sunflowers for every single date you know," Yao sighed as he took the bouquet in his arms. "No matter how fresh they are, they always wilt eventually. What a waste of money aru!"

"Ah ha, but you make them into dried flowers and keep them in jars in your room, don't you? I know you love my sunflowers," Ivan grinned.

"That's because I dislike wastage aru!" Yao blushed.

"But isn't the act of giving flowers romantic?" Ivan cocked his head.

"It's just a bunch of flowers to me," Yao gave a shrug.

"Oh, so flowers are not romantic for you, is that it?" Ivan pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Well~ how about this then?"

Without warning, he lunged forward, enveloped Yao in his arms and pressed their lips together. Momentarily stunned, Yao gasped, allowing Ivan to slip his tongue inside. Ivan subdued the shyer muscle easily, sucking it slowly, feeling the slighter body in his arms cease to struggle and meld to his. They held each other for a long moment, until his lover's resistance and annoyance grew evident through frantic writhing. Ivan smiled down at the lovely tomato-red face before him, tracing his gloved thumb along Yao's swollen lips and gleefully admiring his handiwork.

"Teehee~ It seems that no matter how many times I kiss you, you are always surprised. I'm getting more skilful da?"

"And it seems that no matter how many times I warn you not to do this in public, you never listen aru!" Yao sulked. "You promised to obey me if I became your boyfriend!"

"But I do obey you~ You won't let me get into your pants, so this is the only way I can express my brimming affection for you da?" Ivan gazed at his lover with wide-eyed innocence. Yao was mesmerized for a moment, before realizing his incredulity at the situation. To think that Ivan had the cheek to play innocent when he had just spouted indecent thoughts again!

"Aiya! Don't say such shameless things aru!" Yao turned away and stormed off. Sniggling slightly, Ivan followed eagerly after him. Yao was always adorable when he was angry, especially since Ivan knew that his little sunflower liked him too much to be remain mad at him. But how he wished that Yao would stop resisting his passions!

* * *

*Flashback to end of Chapter 25*

One month ago on the same beautiful night when Yao finally admitted that Ivan was his boyfriend, the impetuous Russian was about to do to Yao all the naughty things he had seen in Big Sister 801's book when a loud crashing sound ensued. His dormitory door flew open and Xiang walked in, face stern, fists clenched fiercely.

"Where's my big brother? I've been knocking on the door for the past fifteen minutes and nobody answered," Xiang demanded.

"He's just left," Ivan smiled up sweetly from his bed. "I was sleeping. I apologize if I didn't hear you."

"Do you sleep in your school uniform?" Xiang noted with hawk-like eyes.

Ivan started for a moment, but quickly replied brazenly, "Why, yes. Is there a problem?"

"Yes," Xiang replied stoutly. "The problem is, my brother is missing, and I believe he is with you."

"Well, he's not," Ivan maintained firmly.

Xiang suddenly drew closer, his eyes tracing over Ivan's body, which was stretched out in a prone position. Ivan flinched, greatly disturbed by the deep, penetrating gaze.

"Stop that, I can sue you for sexual harassment you know," Ivan whined unhappily.

"I should be the one suing for sexual harassment," Xiang said curtly. "Get off the bed."

"You're being unreasonable~!" Ivan whined. "First you barge into my room and break my door, then you look me up and down as though you'd like nothing better than to see my clothes off. Now you're ordering me off my bed."

"Get off the bed," Xiang insisted.

"Xiang, we're good friends, aren't we? I got you your limited edition Bruce Lee movie that was missing from your collection," Ivan reminded him desperately.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can crush my big brother," Xiang looked pointedly at a spot near his elbow. Ivan followed his gaze and spotted long, slender, trembling fingers sticking out from below his elbow. Whoops.

Sheepishly, Ivan got up, revealing a red-faced, disheveled and half-dressed Yao underneath him. Yao hastily sat upright, coughing profusely from lack of air. Ivan patted his back gently, but Yao brushed his arm off.

"Pervert!" Yao snapped at him.

Ivan looked stricken. "Why am I a pervert? I just want to make love to you like what all lovers do da?"

"That isn't what all lovers do! I, for one will not sleep with someone I just got into a relationship with aru!" Yao cried.

"But we're not sleeping together da~ We are going to engage in bed exercises~" Ivan said enthusiastically. "Big Sister 801 said that bed exercises will strengthen relationships and are perfect for new couples like us..."

"Aiya! Don't talk to me about that woman," Yao interrupted, his hands raised in protest. "If you dare to attempt her perverted teachings on me again, you're no longer my boyfriend aru!"

"Aww~" Ivan stuck out his lower lip dejectedly.

"Da Ge, am I intruding? I can leave if you want me to. I just wanted to check if you're fine since you were gone for so long," Xiang bounced on the balls of his toes, clearly feeling uncomfortable with the nature of the conversation.

"Of course not!" Yao snapped at his younger brother. "Didn't I just say that I don't want to sleep with him aru! Are you deaf?"

Xiang was taken aback; Yao rarely ever raised his voice at him.

"I thought you might be pretending to be coy because I'm here..." Xiang explained, but his voice trailed off when Yao narrowed his eyes in anger.

"Who's pretending to be coy!" Yao glared at Xiang. "Wait for me, I'm going back with you aru!"

Turning back to Ivan, he flicked a finger reproachfully against the pale blond head.

"Stop constantly thinking of such perverted things aru! Mind you don't get high blood pressure!" Yao shot him a warning look before marching off.

"Er... Yao~?" Ivan asked timidly.

"What aru!"

"Just now, you said that you would not sleep with someone whom you just got into a relationship with. So does that mean that when our relationship is a few days old, you will sleep with me da?" Ivan asked hopefully.

"AIYA!"

* * *

Although Ivan was always cheerful when told off by Yao, he was in fact, a little depressed. Feliciano and Ludwig did it. Toris and Feliks did it. Old Roma and Germania did it. Just the other day, he had confided in Alfred, who often bragged about having solutions to anything in the whole wide world. Alfred brushed off Yao's behaviour as being 'typically Asian' and proceeded to speak of his experience with Arthur, earning a loud 'Baka!' from the Englishman.

Ivan supposed there was always the option of getting Yao drunk on alcohol and taking him by unawares, as recommended in Big Sister 801's guidebook, but there didn't seem to be much meaning in making love to someone who could not respond to him.

Why wouldn't Yao give him a chance? Was he so undesirable?

"Hello? Earth to Ivan! Earth to Ivan!"

Ivan blinked, before he realized that Yao was waving his hands in front of him.

"Da?' Ivan smiled.

"You've been silent the whole time and you aren't smiling aru. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Ivan beamed.

Yao frowned doubtfully, but Ivan continued to smile brightly.

"Oh well," Yao shrugged, "Let's lay out the mat."

The roof garden was transquil and scenic. It had a large empty patch of grass, helmed by huge transplanted trees and artificial bushes. When it was first launched, many students considered it a novelty. But as time went by, it became a white elephant for few students liked to spend their leisure time and dates within the school grounds. Now it was secluded and free of people most of the time.

Perfect for making out. Ivan kol'ed, congratulating himself for catching Yao in the mood.

The pair made quick work of the mat, laying it out on the ground and the food on top of it. They sat down side by side and began savouring the meal that Yao had made.

"Sorry that we couldn't go anywhere else. I have to go back and rush my thesis later, so I didn't want to go outside the school compound aru," Yao explained.

Oh. So that was it.

"It's all right~ I'm just happy to be with you~" Ivan recovered from his disappointment and smiled.

"How's the food aru? I didn't manage to spend a lot of time preparing it because I had to dash up some extra paragraphs for my thesis," Yao looked at Ivan somewhat anxiously.

Since they started dating, Yao had invited Ivan to join him and his siblings for home-made dinner on several occasions. Ivan considered Yao's culinary dishes to be worthy of a five-star restaurant's. Today's food was still tasty, but being less flavoursome than usual, did not make the cut. Nevetherless, Ivan was touched that Yao still found time for him in spite having to beat a deadline.

"It's great~ I can taste your love for me in it and it's the most delicious thing in the world~" Ivan gushed.

"You sweet talker," Yao chided.

"These are my true feelings," Ivan replied as he dipped a shaomai in a plate of peanut sauce.

"AIYA!"

"What?" Ivan nearly dropped his fork in shock.

"You're dipping the wrong sauce! Nobody dips shaomai in peanut sauce. It's disgusting aru!" Yao bristled.

Ivan scratched his head absentmindedly, personally feeling that it was a great combination. "Sorry, I have lots to learn about Chinese food from you da!"

"You sure do, " Yao nodded. "Speaking of that, how are your Chinese lessons?"

"They are fine," Ivan said through a mouthful of shaomai. "Professor Zhang is very kind. He knows I am a slow learner, so he will slow down the lecture just for me. He even allows deadline extensions just for me."

"Of course, he knows that if he doesn't do what I want, the outcome won't be pretty. Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan thought privately.

"That's good to hear aru. I wish my professor would give me deadline extensions. My muscles are sore all over from sitting in front of my computer all day to research for my thesis!" Yao sighed.

"Aww~" Ivan said sympathetically. "And to think you stil make time to go on weekly dates with me and even to prepare a meal for me da?"

"Can't be helped aru. You're my boyfriend," Yao snorted. "Besides, I like being with you aru," he added as an after thought, blushing as he did.

"Awww~!" Ivan gushed with pleasure, imaginary pink hearts appearing around him. "Yao is so sweet! Let me reward you with a shoulder massage!"

"Ooh! Do you know how to give massages?" Yao asked eagerly.

"I've read up on it," Ivan replied, thinking of the massages that Big Sister 801 had described in her book. "A little practice helps. I'll start off gentle~!"

"All right then," Yao grinned. He shifted himself so that he was sitting with his back facing Ivan.

Excitedly, Ivan ungloved his hands and placed his large palms on Yao's slender shoulders, easily enveloping them. He gave a few experimental presses, inciting a groan from Yao.

"Is this ok?" Ivan asked.

"You're hitting the right spots aru. Do continue. And you can go a little harder," Yao responded, his eyes already half-closed from the relaxing sensation.

The minutes ticked by as Ivan continued to soothe his lover's aching muscles, adjusting his strength appropriately as Yao had requested amidst sensual moans and and whimpers of pleasure. Big Sister 801 had mentioned in her book that even amateurs could give good, erotic massages if they listened to their partner's feedback.

"Yao doesn't know how seductive he sounds when he moans," Ivan thought as he felt himself perspiring from heat that had not been caused by the breezy weather. He gazed at Yao's svelte back. Mmm... Yao's back was completely exposed to him. He was so vulnerable now...

Gradually, he moved his fingers downwards towards the small of Yao's back, pressing gently as he proceeded. This resulted in an approving moan from Yao. Ivan's fingers lingered for a little while, working hard to relax the stiff muscles. When he felt that he could no longer contain his desire, he slipped his hands across Yao's waist, pulling him backwards.

"Eh?" Yao turned his head in surprise. Ivan conveniently caught him by the lips, nibbling passionately as he tightened his embrace around his sweetheart. Reflexively, Yao struggled for a little while before melting into Ivan's arms.

"I... Ivan...!" Yao gasped when their lips broke apart.

"Yao~" Ivan gazed at him with needy eyes. "I want my reward for the massage~"

The pink on Yao's cheeks deepened.

"Now?" Yao whispered awkwardly as he glanced around. "But this is a public place..."

"Yes please~ I'll make it a quick one~" Ivan pleaded in a whiny voice that Yao found impossible to ignore.

"Oh all right," Yao gave in. "Let me get into a comfortable position."

"Da~! Yao is the best!"

Obligingly, Ivan removed his arms. He watched eagerly as Yao slid his hair tie off his long hair, allowing the raven-black silken strands to fall freely around his shoulders. After Yao had placed his hair tie in his ocket, he lay down on the grass, arms placed awkwardly by his sides. He inclined his head coyly when Ivan lay on top of him, avoiding eye contact with those blazing violet eyes that shone with indecent excitement.

"Yao, don't be shy~ We've done this many times da?" Ivan ran his fingers tenderly through Yao's luscious locks. His free hand slid inside Yao's shirt, caressing Yao's smooth chest and occasionally, the little hard rosebuds on it. He was delighted to feel Yao's chest rising and falling rapidly, presumably from excitement.

Yao pouted and muttered something inaudible.

"Teehee~ It's ok, I'll close my eyes~"

His eyes drifted close as he bent his head slowly, until his lips were a breath away from his lover's warm, succulent ones. He waited, waited for Yao to advance, looking forward to the paradise that his angel would bring him to.

He felt lean arms reach up to circle his neck. Then, finally, Yao closed the distance, brushing their lips together. When Ivan felt those lips curve into a slow smile, he kissed the corner of his lover's mouth and then his cheek, before turning his head slightly to press his lips firmly against his angel's. Sensing a gentle nip at his bottom lip, his mind simply clicked off. He quickly took control, angling his head and using his tongue to explore, to taste, to tease. Yao matched him, his lips urgent against his, his tongue waltzing in step with his lover's.

"Mmm... Yao, you're such a good kisser," Ivan licked his lips when Yao pulled away.

"There! You've got your reward. Now get off me aru!" Yao pushed against his broad chest, but Ivan refused to budge.

"Yao is so tsundere~" Ivan sulked.

"Aiya! I'm not being tsundere aru! What if someone walks in on us! This is an indecent thing to do in public aru!" Yao pummelled his fists against Ivan's shoulders to no avail.

"Hmmm... I wonder if you are just as tsundere to your ex-lovers? Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan remarked in his usual sweet voice, but his aura had become somewhat intimidating.

"W... what?" Yao was shocked by the sudden change of subject.

"I've been meaning to ask you this~ Why is it that you can kiss so well since our first date? Have you kissed many people before me? Kolkolkolkol~" A purple haze enshrouded his smiley face.

"Of... of course not!" Yao squeaked.

"How many lovers have you had?" Ivan pressed on.

"Does... does it really matter aru?" Yao trembled.

"That will depend on the number. Well?" Ivan demanded.

"Well, just... just one..."

Ivan arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"T... two... Well, actually, three. Just three. No more, I promised!" Yao cried when Ivan began to look murderous.

"Names, identification numbers and home addresses?" Ivan asked unhappily.

Yao groaned in exasperation. "Oh Ivan, don't be ridiculous! They are pieces of my past. There's no point digging them up again aru!"

"But I'm jealous!" Ivan frowned. "I'm only fourth in your love life. I want you to be mine alone. I've heard stories of people leaving their lovers to go back to their exes."

"Ivan you silly boy, you're too paranoid." Yao reached up and stroked his hair. Ivan looked so disappointed that Yao could not help feeling sympathy for him. From the time they met, Yao knew that Ivan was a clingy young man with a posessive streak. He understood Ivan's insecurity, but there was nothing he could do to change his past acquaintances.

"You're my number one right now. Isn't that all that matters?" Yao said soothingly.

"Besides," he added, "they were short relationships in my high school days and I don't even remember much of them now aru. I've never gone beyond hand-holding and a bit of kissing with any of them. But with you..." Yao's voice trailed off as his face reddened.

"With me what?" Ivan asked, looking positively happier as the purple haze around him began to dissipate.

"With... with you..." Yao glared up at Ivan, annoyed that he was deliberately making him say embarrassing things. "Well, let's just say that you've probably touched me in more places than my own mother ever did aru."

Ivan let out a snort of laughter, earning a punch on his shoulder from Yao.

"Now stop asking stupid questions and get off me aru!"

"Since we're so close, it doesn't hurt for us to cozy up a little more da?" He buried his face against Yao's neck, nuzzling the soft smooth skin and inhaling the fragrance of Yao's favourite peony cologne. The hand on Yao's chest crept sneakily downwards into Yao's pants.

"Hey!" Yao protested when he heard a loud zipping sound. Yao made a grab for Ivan's hands, but Ivan's strength rendered them harmless. He easily got past Yao's anxious hands into his boxers.

"Don't!" Yao let out a cry of shock and embarrassment when he felt Ivan's bare fingers around his privates.

"Oooh, so this is what Yao's little buddy feels like," Ivan said, misty-eyed as he increased the intensity of his strokes, ignoring the slaps from Yao's hands. "Somehow, it's a lot smaller than mine. How cute~"

"You pervert! Who said you could touch me there aru!" Yao wailed as he flailed his legs wildly, hoping to knead Ivan where it hurts, but there was no such luck. Ivan's weight was pinning him down, his knees pushing Yao's thighs apart and away from his Achilles' heel.

"But I've already touched so much of your body~ Surely it wouldn't hurt for me to touch another spot da~?"

"Stop it! Stop it! Or I won't go on a date with you ever again aru!" Yao moaned as he felt all the nerves in his body tingling from repulsion, embarrassment, excitement and desire. Such was his discomfort that warm tears began trickling out of the corners of his eyes.

Noting Yao's displeasure, Ivan lifted his hand out of Yao's boxers.

"Yao doesn't like me to touch your little buddy da?" Ivan gazed down at Yao with a forlorn expression.

"Of course! My little buddy is out of bounds to everyone aru! Even my mother!" Yao snapped hotly.

Ivan pursed his lips puzzledly. Big Sister 801 had said that mutual touching of little buddies could promote intimacy...

"Ah ha~! Why don't you touch my little buddy then?"

Before Yao could find his voice to react to this bizarre proposal, another loud zipping sound ensued, this time, from Ivan's end. Yao found his hand being grabbed and pulled towards Ivan's wretched 'little buddy'.

"No way aru!" Yao squealed and shook his head frantically as he tried fruitlessly to tug his hand away.

"Don't worry, Yao~ My little buddy is much bigger than yours~ He's tough~ You don't have to worry about hurting him~"

"That's not it aru!" Yao cried, writhing desperately under Ivan's muscular frame. He could feel the cold metallic zipper on Ivan's pants. Yao clenched his fist tight, squealing when he felt a warm hard knob pressing against his knuckle.

"Come on Yao~" Ivan yodelled. "He won't bite you~"

"All right, I've touched him, you can take him away now aru," Yao wept, hoping against hope that Ivan would let him off.

"No, you must wrap your fingers around him and warm him up. Then he'll like you da~!"

"I don't care aru!"

"But I do!"

Four hands locked into a scufflenear the little buddy. It was not long before Yao's small hands lost the battle, and he felt his trembling fingers pulled towards the red-hot region...

"CLICK!"

A loud sound, followed by a blinding flash of light, caused Yao's heart to jump and Ivan to freeze in motion. Ivan was compelled to release Yao as he got on to his knees and rubbed his eyes to rid the little flashes of light in his vision. Yao acted on his first instinct, backing away from Ivan before the pervert could set him up with his little buddy again.

He was about to thank his lucky stars when his eyes fell upon the source of the light - a teenage boy in a Hetalia Gakuen uniform, holding on to a large camera and wearing an apologetic expression. Yao would have assumed that this person was one of his Asian juniors, if not for those familiar eyes filled with pride and wilfulness that he was so well-acquainted with, and a singular long strand of curly hair sticking out from a crown of short, black hair. Yao realized, upon closer inspection, that the short hair was in fact, very long hair tied back into a pony tail.

"Heh heh. Sorry Da Ge, I accidentally triggered the flash mode," the young 'boy' confirmed his worst nightmare.

"Wan Wan?"

**To be continued...**

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Hello, it's been a long time da? XD I've been so busy with personal and work stuff ever since I came back from Tokyo. ^^; I haven't even had time to work on my fanbook! But seeing so many new favourites and reviews makes me feel bad for making you all wait, so I rushed out this chapter. I hope you like it. It's a bit more err... sleazy than the previous chapters because I was feeling pervy when writing it (partially due to not writing any Rochu lemon for so long) I hope it's ok X'''D Please keep the reviews coming, they really motivate me.

And here is a plug for an account on my trip as well as tips on buying doujinshi in Tokyo: haragurotan (dot) blog132 (dot) fc2 (dot) com / blog-entry-113 (dot) html

**Next chapter:** Yao's rebellious little sister Wang Wan ran away from home after their parents had discovered and burnt her entire doujinshi collection. She asks Yao and Ivan to take her in, and is appalled to learn that 'Big Brother' and 'Brother-in-law' are not rooming in the same dormitory room. She decides to take matters in her own hands and get them to room together, by hook or by crook.


	27. Operation :Bed:Room Switch I

**Main Pairing: Rochu (Ivan x Yao) | Genre: School, Romance, Humour, Drama | Rating: PG-13 for kissing scenes and sexual references**

Characters: Rochu-centric with many side pairings, supporting characters and cameos from other nations.

Synopsis: In Hetalia Gakuen, Ivan, a notorious school bully, meets & falls in love with Yao, a student councilor who resolves to tame him of his bullying ways. Hilarity, chaos & fluff ensue as Yao braves Ivan's romantic but perverted pursuit to take him into hand.

Disclaimer: The following story is a derivative work of APH and shares no relation to actual countries, political ideologies, history or events. Characters are copyright to Hidekaz Himaruya, but the storyline and writing are copyright to me. You may share the link to my blog or blog post, but you may not repost my writings without my permission.****

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**Chapter 27: Operation (Bed)Room Switch I**

Never in his life did Yao expect he would become guilty of the following atrocities:

1) Doing naughty things with his boyfriend in public (albeit being forced)  
2) Sister walking in on them doing the abovementioned  
3) Flashing his little buddy to his sister  
4) Everything above committed to eternal documentation on sister's camera

But in just one date with Ivan Braginski, all the above had happened. Not for the first or last time, Yao wished he had never agreed to go into a relationship with the perverted polar bear. The only thing that prevented Yao from jumping off the roof garden right there and then was the fact that he was not dressed in red. If he had to die, he would want to make the most out of his death, by dressing in red so that he could return as a vengeful spirit to exact revenge on the two culprits who were responsible for his intense humiliation.

And none of it had even been his fault! Ivan had forcefully pulled his pants down, while his precocious little sister Wang Wan had somehow appeared from nowhere and snuck up on them with a camera. Never mind that she was supposed to be back home in their hometown at this moment. Much to his indignation, these two shameless people were now sitting opposite each other on the grass, heartily chatting away with not an ounce of apology, while he, the victim, was left alone to grovel in a corner in utter shame.

Much as he ought to find relief from the fact that his little sister of 16 did not seem traumatised to see her brother being forced to manhandle another man's privates in public, he failed to muster up happiness in the face of the harsh truth that she was conditioned to such scenes in 2D by her massive collection of Yaoi doujinshi. Yaoi was one of Wan's unfortunate favourite indulgences, along with impulse shopping and talking back at him.

Yao tried to bury his head in his knees to block out the crushing reality, but he could not help catching bits and pieces of the conversation between his sister and his boyfriend. Wan was quizzing Ivan all about their love life with the eagerness of a genuinely curious child, her eyes round and shining with curiosity. In the meantime, Ivan smiled sinisterly throughout, a faint purple haze behind him, clearly upset that this pest had just ruined his date. Yao wondered if Wan's excitement had dulled her usually acute senses, or if she was simply being her unreasonably gutsy self. Under normal circumstances, he would have sought to protect his precious sister, but now, he was feeling sorry for nobody but himself.

"How long have you both been dating for?" Wan asked with an air of an eager tabloid journalist interrogating a celebrity with a juicy scandal. Yao could not help picturing a recorder in her hand.

"One month," Ivan replied smilingly, his violet eyes glowing menacingly.

Wan's eyes grew wide and she gasped in innocent surprise. "What? Only? Wow! So Yong Soo was telling the truth! I thought he was exaggerating when he said that big brother made out with a guy he only knew for five days!"

Ivan narrowed his eyes. Offended by her reaction which he mistook for scepticism, Ivan declared boldly, "But before that, we were already hugging and kissing like long-time lovers."

Yao groaned inwardly and covered his face, while Wan turned and tut-tutted at him with an expression that said, "I'd never have guessed!"

She regained her composure and turned back to Ivan. "So, what exactly is it that you like about my brother?"

"Oh, everything," Ivan's eyes glinted, hinting malicious intentions. "His deliciously warm lips that melt perfectly against mine, his agile tongue that seduces mine so effortlessly, the sight of his creamy, naked skin when he coquettishly lifts his shirt, the feel of his smooth skin against my hands when I touch him…"

Wan went beet-root red up to her ears. Yao could feign deafness no more as his mind screamed in pain from the verbal torture. He raced towards the duo and clapped his hands over his sister's ears, causing her to yell from shock and pain.

"Aiya! What rubbish are you spouting? My sister is underage aru!"

"Don't treat me like a little girl!" Wan cried when she regained her senses. "I want to hear more! Let me go! You're pulling my hair!" She struggled and tried to pry Yao's hands off her head, but her older brother's parental instincts had kicked in, and he held on even tighter.

"What I said is nothing compared to you flashing your little buddy at her," Ivan growled, feeling angrier by the second to see his beloved Yao holding another person so intimately (in his mind).

Yao's face reddened from the cruel reminder, but he said stoutly, "And whose fault is it? I forbid you to talk to her or come near her aru!"

Ivan's face darkened further. "Why? Are you afraid that she will be jealous of us? Kolkolkolkol~"

"Me, jealous?" Wan exclaimed in disbelief. Taken aback by Ivan's bizarre revelations, Yao released his flailing sister unwittingly.

"Wan is my sister aru!" Yao balled his fists at Ivan in exasperation.

"That doesn't exclude her from my list of love rivals. My sister's life long ambition is to get married to me!" Ivan retorted, his voice quaking slightly from fear as the nightmarish image of his younger sister Natalia chanting "let's get married" at him invaded his mind.

Wan promptly pretended retching onto the grass. Casting a withering glance at her, Yao said, "I assure you that my sister is nothing like yours!"

Wan rolled her eyes. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I don't think any girl wants to marry him at all."

"Aiya! How dare you aru!" Yao cried.

"No girl would like a man who's a nag, a scrooge, a prude and who's always dressed in last year's fashion," Wan elaborated.

"What? That's a lie!" Yao spluttered as he wrung his hands agitatedly. "How rude of you to say that of your big brother aru!"

"How is that a lie? I was just quoting what your ex-girlfriends said," Wan shrugged her shoulders.

"That's just their biased view aru. How could you believe them?" Yao cried indignantly as he cast an anxious sidelong look at Ivan. For some inexplicable reason, he was suddenly worried that Ivan's opinion on him would be tainted by these criticisms. He noted that the darkness on Ivan's face had receded, and he was smiling once more. It seemed that Ivan had decided that Wan was of no immediate threat, but Yao could not help wondering if his placid smile was prompted by scorn.

"Were Yao's ex-lovers girls da?" Ivan asked.

"Yes! So I was really excited when I found out from Yong Soo's Facebook status that big brother was dating a guy!" Wan practically squealed in excitement. Turning to Yao with a sly smile, she said, "I don't suppose you had a choice, considering that you aren't popular with the opposite sex."

"Who says so!" Yao snapped hotly. "It's too bad for them that they don't appreciate my concern and frugality aru!"

"Why should you care about what those dumb girls think when you already have me? Kolkolkolkol~" Ivan chuckled malevolently, sending shivers down Wan's spine, who began rubbing her arms vigorously.

Already used to Ivan's scary chuckle, Yao disregarded it and hastily launched into an explanation, "Aiya, I'm not bothered by what they think aru! I just wanted to set the record straight. I… I don't want you to think of me as a nag, a scrooge and unfashionable aru…" Yao's voice trailed off uncertainly and he looked away from Ivan in embarrassment. Could he actually be worried that Ivan would not like him?

Something clicked in Ivan's head. "Oh! Are you afraid that I wouldn't want you after knowing about your flaws da?" Ivan's face lit up in surprised delight, his harsh voice back to saccharine sweet.

"No! I just don't want anyone to have the wrong impression on me aru!" Yao blushed furiously, annoyed that his real intentions were so quickly exposed.

"Aww Yao, you're so cute! That's why I love you!" Without warning, Ivan grabbed his lover around the waist and pulled him into his lap. Disregarding Yao's frantic struggles, he pressed their lips together and kissed him passionately, amidst excited girlish squeals and 'clicking' sounds from Wan's camera.

Moments later, Ivan detached himself unwillingly from his heartily embarrassed lover. His violet eyes boring into Yao's amber ones dazed from embarrassment and lack of oxygen, he declared emphatically, "I mean it when I told your sister that I like everything about you. I'd rather you nag at me than ignore me. I'd sooner pay for all our dates as long as you'd keep me company. You're so pretty that you look good in anything da!"

Dizzy with excitement, the gleeful voyeur clasped her hands together and gushed happily, "So romantic!"

"Aiya, don't say such mushy things in front of my sister aru!" Yao flushed from the nakedness of Ivan's love declaration. Nevertheless, he was touched that Ivan appreciated some of his less desirable attitudes. Perhaps dating Ivan was not such a bad idea after all.

"It's all right," Wan twittered cheerfully. "It's not like I haven't witnessed more awkward things," she patted her camera mischievously.

"I take that back," Yao thought as the pinkness on his cheeks intensified to scarlet. He lunged at the camera, but grabbed nothingness as Wan nimbly moved her camera out of his reach.

Yao gnashed his teeth. "Destroy it! I command you to aru!"

"Shan't," Wan hid the camera behind her and stuck out her tongue at him. Yao lunged at her, but Ivan wrapped his arms around his lithe waist, preventing him from reaching his sister.

"Your sister seems genuinely happy for us. Just let her have it, what's the problem? Does being seen on film with me embarrass you so? Kolkolkolkol~"

Yao groaned in exasperation at Ivan's gross lack of social awareness. "Aiya, stop getting jealous over nothing! This is more serious than a matter of humiliation. We will be expelled and our futures ruined if that thing leaks out aru!" he wrung his hands with anxiety.

"Whoever dares to laugh at us or expel us shall have a taste of my water pipe. Kolkolkolkol~"

"Aiya! You're completely missing the point! How on earth can you be so calm when... when your private parts are about to be seen by everybody in the world in such an obscene video aru! We would never be able to face anyone around us!" Yao berated as he grabbed Ivan's arms and tried desperately to throw them off him.

"Obscene?" Ivan inclined his head quizzically. "This type of art film is very popular in my country. We call it 'erotica'."

"Arrrgh! It's so impossible to communicate with you," Yao clutched at his heart, his face scrunched up in frustration.

"Oh stop acting like it's the end of the world!" Wan interjected, shaking her head in bemusement at her brother's dramatic antics. "Do you really think that I'd ruin my own brother by exposing your sex tape to the rest of the world?"

"That is not a sex tape aru! We were not having sex in it!" Yao attempted to correct her, a feat that was akin to clutching at straws as Wan arched an eyebrow at him mockingly.

"Naughty tape, obscene tape, erotic tape, it's all the same to me," she shrugged. "Anyway, rest assured that it will be secret and safe if you'd do me a small favour."

"I knew it," Yao said grudgingly. "You wouldn't visit me if you didn't need my help."

"Wrong," Wan smirked. "_You_ need my help to keep your sex tape secret. And I'm giving you a chance to repay my favour."

Yao gave a sigh of resignation. He knew his sister as a determined and confident girl who believed in achieving what she wanted. If she needed a favour, she would get a favour all right, and no amount of threats, protests or attempts to escape would dissuade her.

"All right, just tell me what you want from me and I'll give it to you in exchange for the wretched tape aru!" Yao demanded.

Wan beamed with triumphant glee. "Yes, I wouldn't visit you if I could help it, but Ma discovered my latest yaoi doujinshi…"

"Here we go again," Yao placed a palm against his aching forehead.

"Ooh yaoi doujinshi da? Is that like the comics that Big Sister 801 draws… oh sorry," Ivan said meekly as Yao dealt him a death glare.

"You read Big Sister 801 too?" Wan gushed. "She's my idol! This is so cool! I know very few guys who read yaoi doujinshi…"

"Ahem!" Yao cleared his throat extravagantly. "Let me guess, after Ma discovered your latest piece of catastrophe, she confiscated your doujinshi collection for the nth time and you left home in a fit of anger, going so far as to buy an air ticket and fly all the way here to blackmail me into giving you a hiding place aru."

"You sure are my big brother, you know me very well!" Wan clapped his shoulder happily. "So all I need you to do now is to let me live in a small corner of your room until Ma returns me all my doujinshi."

Wan stood up and pulled out a bulky suitcase from some bushes behind her. Yao felt certain that it was filled with survivors of Ma's doujinshi massacre.

"No way aru!" he leapt to his feet and crossed his arms huffily. Wan pouted back at him, her eyebrows knitted in puzzlement.

"First of all, it's against the school rules to let an outsider, especially a girl, into our dormitories, let alone stay over aru," Yao pointed out.

"I know," Wan said eagerly. "That's why I took your old uniform and dressed up as a student of Hetalia Gakuen! I think I did a convincing job! Nobody will think I'm a girl!"

"Secondly," he gestured at the luggage, "pornography is banned from campus."

"No it's not!" Ivan quipped from beside him. "A lot of students read it openly in the European campus!"

"Well, I've banned it from the Asian dormitory in any case!" Yao said brusquely.

"But doujinshi is not pornography! It's art!" Wan protested.

Yao raised a hand for silence.

"Lastly, Ma must be very worried about you. I'll pay for your air ticket home, and while you're on the plane, I'll call Ma to appease her. I'm sure Ma will forgive you if you apologise for your mistake and stop doing it aru," Yao said firmly.

"What mistake?" Wan cried. "I have the freedom to draw whatever I want!"

"It was wrong of you to indulge in such shameless books, let alone draw them! Ma was too soft with you. If I were Ma, I would have burnt them all," Yao said fiercely.

"Says the one who did shameless things in public, in front of his own sister no less," Wan said sarcastically as she patted her camera to remind him of the immoral contents inside. Stumped for words, Yao withered like a sunflower in the dark. Helplessness and dread filled his eyes, as a warm red blush surfaced over his cheeks yet again.

Wan turned her back on him loftily to talk to Ivan. Clasping her fingers together, she said imploringly, her eyelashes fluttering innocently, "My dear future brother-in-law, you don't mind me bunking in with you for a few days, do you? I have no where to go. I've already spent all my money on my air ticket. I don't have more money to stay at a hotel or even a guesthouse! Please? I promise not to get in your way!"

Ivan's cheeks turned rosy with pleasure at the mention of 'future brother-in-law', and he silently chided himself for considering her as a rival. Why, she seemed even more pleasant and dependable than Kiku! But willing himself not to be carried away, he said, "I'd love to help, but it's not very nice for a girl to share a room with boys da?"

"Doesn't matter, you're family – Ivan positively beamed widely at that – and big brother acts like Ma. Hurry up and take me to your room, I want to deposit my luggage so that I can go shopping!"

"The problem is, I share my room with another guy called Toris, and although he is always bunking in with Felix, it would still be inconvenient for you," Ivan explained.

"What? Isn't big brother your room mate?" Wan looked at him with a mortified expression.

Ivan shook his head and stuck out his lower lip dolefully.

"But why aren't you both sharing a room?" Wan demanded. "No wonder you went in heat in public! You're very lucky that it was me who spotted you, mind you. It would have been disastrous if it was someone else who had walked in on you!" She shook her head in wonder at the blatant stupidity of the two older men.

"I didn't go in heat!" Yao protested angrily.

"Big brother is a prude and very tsundere," Wan proceeded to lecture Ivan, unperturbed. "As the seme, you must take the initiative to ask your uke to share your bed! He may yell at you for a bit, but deep down, he can't wait for you to get into his pants."

"Wan!" Yao gasped in horror, shocked at her brazenness and her bizarrely twisted perception of him.

"I know. I've been trying to get Yao to move in with me, but Arthur and Francis always disappear whenever I look for them to discuss about transferring out of my dormitory," Ivan explained gloomily.

"Who?"

"The head student councillors of my cohort. They are so useless that I would have beaten them to pulp and got them to agree to anything if not for Yao," Ivan flexed his fingers and they creaked menacingly.

"I see," Wan nodded thoughtfully. "All right, in return for big brother's willingness to take me in, I'll make sure that both of you are room mates before I leave."

"I didn't say I'd take you in. Please just go home already aru," Yao wailed.

Wan's lips twitched into a sly and sordid smile. "If I go home now, I would have to show Ma the video of you and future brother-in-law touching each other's little buddies so that she can see what an excellent role model I had…"

"Arrgh! All right!" Yao stuck in his fingers in his ears to shut out her devastating words. "You may stay, but no funny ideas! If I get expelled, both of you are dead meat aru!"

Giving Ivan and Wan the evil eye, Yao wrenched the suitcase handle and dragged it off with a vengeance. Ivan watched him go with trepidation, but Wan caught his eye and winked at him.

"Leave it all to me, future brother-in-law!"

**To be continued...**

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**Author's notes: **Finally an update! I'm so sorry for the lateness OTL Sigh I wonder how many people have given up reading this fic OTL

Although Wan has no fujoshi characteristics in Hetalia, a lot of fans like to portray her, and most of the female characters in general, as fujoshi XD I decided to portray her as being more innocent than Elizaveta, and therefore, she is very curious about, and sometimes surprised at the progress of her brother's relationship XD

Sorry, not much action in this chapter ^^; To be honest, after four months of not writing this story, I'm a bit out of touch, and I'm not very pleased with how this chapter came out. I've proofread it several times but I can't really pinpoint the problem. But this will have to do for now or I'll never be able to get any new chapters up. ^^; Please let me know what you think!

14 Janury 2011 Edited to add: I added more descriptive phrases and more descriptions about Wan to introduce her properly as a character that's here to stay. Hopefully it seems less fast-paced as before! Thanks very much for the feedback and advice, I really appreciate it! \^o^/


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